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Current understanding of the cost-effectiveness of testing sexual assault kits
Published in Rachel E. Lovell, Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Sexual Assault Kits and Reforming the Response to Rape, 2023
SAK research using economics, statistics, and mathematical modeling continues to evaluate the value of forensic investigation in the administration of justice. The use of DNA databases has coordinated attempts to connect the perpetrators of crime with the DNA profiles collected to date. To determine value, studies often begin with a look at the relative frequency of matches between a DNA sample and the DNA database as a proxy for the probability of matches for other offenses.
The Skull in Concrete: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Identification
Published in Heather M. Garvin, Natalie R. Langley, Case Studies in Forensic Anthropology, 2019
Kristen Hartnett-McCann, Ruth E. Kohlmeier
A portion of the mandible and one tooth were submitted to the Forensic Biology division of the County Crime Laboratory for nuclear DNA analysis. DNA from the tooth was extracted using the EZ1 DNA Investigator Kit. Quantitation of the DNA extracts was performed using the Quantifiler Duo Kit. The polymerase chain reaction amplification of short tandem repeats was performed using the Identifiler Plus PCR Amplification Kit, and the amplified DNA was analyzed with capillary electrophoresis. The bone sample was extracted and quantitated but no further analysis was conducted on this sample because positive results were already obtained from the tooth. The DNA profile from the tooth was entered into the local DNA database and submitted to the state and national DNA databases. There was a match between the tooth and another sample in the local CODIS database, which happened to be bone submitted from a 2009 case in the same county involving dismembered human remains discovered in a landfill. The 2009 case had been previously positively identified via DNA from a toothbrush of a 36-year-old male from Pakistan who had been missing since 2007.
Principles of forensic science and crime scene investigation
Published in Jason Payne-James, Richard Jones, Simpson's Forensic Medicine, 2019
Jason Payne-James, Richard Jones
If a profile has been obtained from a crime scene sample such as a blood stain, it can then be compared with a reference sample, often a mouth (buccal) swab, from an individual believed to be connected to the case, or a match searched for on a DNA database. If DNA profiles do not match then they could not have come from the same person. Conversely, if the crime scene profile matches at every locus then the DNA could have come from the reference person. Only identical twins would share the same profile. If a large number of loci have one or more alleles in common, however, then the analyst may suspect that the profile comes from a close relative of the identified individual instead.
Geolocation prediction from STR genotyping: a pilot study in five geographically distinct global populations
Published in Annals of Human Biology, 2023
Mansi Arora, Hirak Ranjan Dash
The field of forensic DNA analysis is constantly evolving, with rapid technological advancements. Most laboratories use the Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) technique to explore repetitions in Short Tandem Repeat (STR) markers to obtain a unique DNA profile (Butler 2007). However, the use of STR markers has been limited to the purpose of individualisation and it does not provide any additional information regarding investigative leads. In many forensic DNA investigations, sample-limiting conditions can arise, where reference samples are not available for matching (Butler 2015). In such scenarios, the present-day DNA analysis becomes irrelevant, as it fails to provide conclusive identification results. Though database searching for such unknown DNA profiles is an alternative, many developing countries do not have their own databases (Machado and Granja 2020). Some of the potential DNA databases in the world include CODIS, ENFSI STR population database, EMPOP, Family Tree Dna, ENFSI STRbASE, and many more (Ruitberg et al. 2001; Congiu et al. 2012). Hence, it has become imperative to explore the horizon of STR-based DNA profiles to provide investigative leads in cases where reference samples are not available.
Anonymous Dutch sperm donors releasing their identity
Published in Human Fertility, 2021
Sophie Bolt, Diny Postema, Anouk van der Heij, A. Janneke B.M. Maas
Fiom, a national organization that provides independent information and support in the search for biological origin since 1930, wanted to help. The Fiom website (https://fiom.nl/) offers information on donor conception to all those directly involved, provides access to DNA-based searches and offers personal stories and information from donors, donor-conceived persons and parents. To enable donor-conceived persons to get information about the donor, the Fiom KID-DNA Database was developed in 2010 in collaboration with the Canisius Wilhelmina Hospital (CWZ). This voluntary DNA-database allows donor-conceived persons and donors donating prior to 2004 to register and send in their DNA (Crawshaw et al., 2015). Fiom mediates contact between donor offspring and allows donors and donor offspring to receive counselling for themselves and their family.
The Digital Life of Henrietta Lacks: Reforming the Regulation of Genetic Material
Published in Journal of Legal Medicine, 2018
A complication of genetic research is that the source of the material may be unaware that his or her biological material is being used in research studies and that this genetic information is widely available. Genetic information is constantly leaving our bodies in mundane ways such as shedding hair or falling skin cells.38Pike, supra note 26, at 1987–88 (citing Rachel Ross, A Trail of Genetic Evidence Follows Us All, Toronto Star, February 2, 2004, at D03). However, some sources of genetic material such as medical waste, health screenings, and investigative material in the criminal justice system can result in our genetic data being extracted and shared in research, often without the donor's knowledge.39Pike, supra note 26, at 1980. Often, when consent for research participation is granted, that consent may not be broad enough to cover all uses of the relevant material. A patient may be unaware that his medical waste is being used in research, and even if he did consent to the material being utilized, it is unlikely that he was fully aware of the extent to which his genetic information would be extracted and shared.40Id. at 1988. Consequently, one's genetic data may be available without one's knowledge, potentially compromising one's individual and familial privacy. As the collection of genetic data continues to expand, new privacy concerns are emerging, posing imminent threats that transcend generations.41Concerns regarding genetic information expand beyond medical and scientific situations: the criminal law system is also muddied by a lack of consistent regulations. The DNA Identification Act of 1994 led to the FBI's establishment of a DNA database that is inconsistently used in law enforcement activities. M. Binford Griffin, DNA Collection Acts and the 4th Amendment: A Call for Legislative Reform in Georgia to Implement Collection of Arrestee's DNA, 32 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 513, 517–520 (Winter 2016).