HeadJam Applied Here Q. Why is dna such strong evidence in todays criminal investigations and trials? Therefore, a dna match could indicate a definite connection to a http://www.teachingtools.com/HeadJam/
Extractions: The Trace Evidence Unit, one of many FBI units that helps with criminal investigations, identifies and compares specific types of trace particles found at a crime scene. These clues might include materials such as human hair, animal hair, textile fibers and fabric, rope, feathers and wood. Hairs and Fibers To examine the characteristics of a hair sample, FBI personnel often use a compound microscope, which magnifies a sample up to four hundred times. To compare hairs, a comparison microscope can be used, which is simply two compound microscopes bridged together, allowing the examiner to see two hairs side by side at the same time. Hair Characteristics Trace particles of fiber evidence differ in their value as evidence. In general, the more rare the fiber, the more significance it will hold in court. For example, plain white cotton fiber, such as T-shirt material, is typically not very useful as evidence because it is too common. If a fiber originating from a suspect matches a fiber found at a crime scene, experts must try to show that it is more than a coincidence. Fortunately for investigators, textiles today have more variety than ever.
ALRC - On-line dna profiles stored on a computer databasesuch as those collected from convicted criminal investigations. The Commonwealth should consider amending the http://www.alrc.gov.au/media/2003/bn290503-6.htm
Extractions: Briefing note: Law Enforcement (Refer Vol 2, Part J) While genetic testing is has not yet become a standard feature of modern medicine, DNA profiling is already established as a major tool for all Australian law enforcement authorities. Unlike genetic testing in the health and research contexts, forensic testing is performed on nine agreed sites ('loci') on the non-coding (or so-called 'junk') portion of human DNA (as well as well as on the sex chromosome, to determine the person's gender). This results in the construction of a 'DNA profile', which may be used in criminal investigations to link a person to a crime scene, to exclude a suspect, or to identify a missing person or human remains. One major concern for the inquiry is that the development of the national criminal investigation DNA database (NCIDD) system has been hampered by the lack of harmonisation among Commonwealth, State and Territory forensic procedures laws and practices. At the same time, this absence of harmony compromises efforts to ensure that these DNA identification systems are subject to proper safeguards and independent scrutiny, in order to preserve public confidence in their operation.
Council For Responsible Genetics Allowing the FBI to include dna collected from anyone under applicable state Storing dna taken from unsuspected individuals in a criminal database http://www.gene-watch.org/genewatch/articles/17-2Simoncelli.html
Extractions: ABOUT GENEWATCH GeneWatch GeneWatch has covered a broad spectrum of issues, from genetically engineered foods to biological weapons, genetic privacy and discrimination, reproductive technologies, and human cloning. To find out more about subscribing to GeneWatch and having it delivered to your doorstep six times a year, just click here
Forensic DNA Databasing: A European Perspective The European Union criminal intelligence agency EUROPOL - aims for increased data We aim to investigate the current arrangements for forensic dna http://www.dur.ac.uk/p.j.johnson/eu.html
Extractions: Research context The continuing growth and expansion of the National DNA Database in England Wales A range of organizations are currently involved in developing and promoting DNA databasing across the EU. For example: the European DNA Profiling Group (EDNAP), has existed since 1988 with the aim of establishing systematic procedures for data-sharing across the European community; the Standardization of DNA Profiling in the European Union (STADNAP) group exists to promote co-operation across the EU in order The UK govern me me me me me The European Union criminal intelligence agency - EUROPOL - aims for increased data sharing of DNA and the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters supports it. The Council of the European Union, in June 2001, passed a resolution which defines certain para me ters for the exchange of DNA information between me mber states.
Humid.e-symposium.com - DNAPrint Genomics When a black male was apprehended, his dna was found to match that at one of the Related Links dnaWitness Shaping the Future of criminal Investigations http://dnaprint.humid.e-symposium.com/
Extractions: At DNAPrint genomics, Inc., we offer our customers the highest-quality products and services for human DNA identification. Our team of scientists has developed solutions for sample identity and tracking, DNA collection, DNA analysis, data management and data reporting. Our mission at DNAPrint genomics, Inc. is to be the most trusted and valuable resource in Human Identification and to provide the highest quality products, as well as cutting-edge, forensic DNA services. Our management team has proven experience in developing successful DNA analysis solutions for Forensic, Genealogical, and Pharmaceutical applications. DNAPrint's Forensic Division opens up a completely new opportunity for detectives, forensic scientists, medical examiners because our techniques and products deliver results. Our technology for law enforcement is being used by police agencies and forensic laboratories around the world and played a key role in the apprehension of a serial killer.
Extractions: Winter 2000 F_menu(new Array('NavigationBar21', '../html/cj_editors.html','../assets/images/autogen/CJ_editors_Ns1_1.gif','../assets/images/autogen/CJ_editors_NRs1_1.gif')); F_menu(new Array('NavigationBar22', '../html/cj_archives.html','../assets/images/autogen/CJ_print_Ns1.gif','../assets/images/autogen/CJ_print_NRs1.gif','../html/new_and_newsworthy_archive.html','../assets/images/autogen/CJ_online_Ns1.gif','../assets/images/autogen/CJ_online_NRs1.gif')); DNA Testing: The Next Big Crime-Busting Breakthrough Howard Safir, Peter Reinharz EMAIL RESPOND PRINT T he whole world knows about the extraordinary reduction in crime that New York City has won in recent years by applying a host of innovative new crime-fighting techniques, from computerized crime tracking to quality-of-life policing. But there's a cutting-edge way to slash Gotham's crime rate by another 15 percent: using DNA evidence left behind by criminals to situate them at the scene of the crime. In England, police have pushed DNA profiling to the forefront of crime fighting, helping to solve tens of thousands of crimes. But here in the United States, efforts to expand DNA testing are lagging, in part because of the relentless, if ill-founded, opposition of the American Civil Liberties Union. It's a shame, because not only does the use of DNA testing in law enforcement promise to put more of the guilty behind bars; it has also worked to free innocent people imprisoned for crimes they didn't commit. T he inventor of DNA testing—he gets a small royalty every time investigators use the process—is geneticist Alec Jeffreys of Leicester University in England. In the early 1980s, as Jeffreys experimented with extracting DNA from human muscle tissue, he made a remarkable discovery. (Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, of course, is the double-helix configuration of protein molecules in cells that determines the inherited genetic characteristics of all living things.) Certain seemingly purposeless segments of human DNA, Jeffreys realized, were in fact "genetic markers," as unmistakably unique to each individual (with the exception of identical twins) as a fingerprint. The genetic markers show up in the nucleus of human cells from blood, bone, hair follicles, saliva, semen, skin, sweat, and other bodily excretions. They're the same from cell to cell and remain so throughout an individual's life.
Forensic DNA Analysis: Technology And Application (BP443e) The probability that two forensicdna patterns could match entirely by chance has pronounced criticism for their mishandling of criminal investigations. http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/bp443-e.htm
Extractions: Staff of the Parliamentary Research Branch (PRB) of the Library of Parliament work exclusively for Parliament conducting research and providing analysis and policy advice to Members of the Senate and House of Commons and to parliamentary committees on a non-partisan and confidential basis. The documents on this site were originally prepared for general distribution to Canadian Parliamentarians to provide background and analysis of issues that may arise in the course of their Parliamentary duties. They are made available here as a service to the public. These studies are not official Parliamentary or Canadian government documents. No legal or other professional advice is offered by the authors or the Parliamentary Research Branch in presenting its publications or in maintaining links to other Internet sites. BP-443E
SENATOR KYL INTRODUCTION OF THE ADVANCING JUSTICE THROUGH DNA and improve dna databases used for criminal investigations and authorize To get that confirmation, however, investigators had to collect a swab of http://www.cjlf.org/deathpenalty/KylDNABillSpeech.htm
Extractions: INTRODUCTION OF THE "ADVANCING JUSTICE THROUGH DNA TECHNOLOGY ACT OF 2003" Mr. KYL: Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the "Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act of 2003." This bill consists of the President's DNA initiative, which will expand and improve DNA databases used for criminal investigations and authorize additional funds to clear the backlog of untested DNA evidence in the nation's crime labs. This bill offers several advantages over another version of the President's proposal that recently was introduced in the Senate. Today's bill gives states greater leeway in the use of DNA grants, removes arbitrary and unnecessary restrictions on the testing of criminal suspects' DNA samples, authorizes additional funds to clear the backlog of non-DNA forensics evidence, and - most importantly - avoids tying this critical program to unrelated and highly controversial anti-death penalty legislation. I include in the record at the end of this statement a news story that describes the nature of the state counsel and other extraneous provisions that others have sought to attach to the President's proposal. The bill that I introduce today is an unencumbered - and unabridged - version of the President's DNA initiative: the DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act and the Rape Kits and DNA Evidence Backlog Elimination Act, which authorize the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program and provide $755 million over five years to address the DNA backlog crisis in the nation's crime labs.
Extractions: Biotechnology Works: DNA Fingerprinting History of DNA Fingerprinting Forensic Testing Establishing Paternity ... Human Genome Project In its simplest form, DNA fingerprinting is the process of cross-matching two strands of DNA. In practice, it has become one of the most powerful and widely known applications of biotechnology today. Every living thing (except identical twins) has a unique combination of genes. When mixed with a sample of genetic material (body tissue such as skin or hair; bodily fluids such as blood or semen), certain enzymes recognize specific combinations of the letters A, C, G and T and "cut" the DNA whenever they encounter that combination. The "cut" genetic sequence fragments compose a DNA pattern, or "fingerprint," uniqueto each person.
Biometrics Note: Registers And Responses introduction; registers scope and scale of fingerprint, dna and other biometric of a serious crime, for use in later criminal investigations . http://www.caslon.com.au/biometricsnote9.htm
Extractions: Most biometric schemes involve reference databases - collections of 'legitimate' identifiers (in image or other formats) for authentication matching or for screening. Routinisation of data collection means that although some databases are small, for example restricted to people accessing a particular building, others have grown to cover much of the population.
Extractions: Virginia's Story In 1989, the Virginia Division of Forensic Sciences implemented DNA testing in its criminal investigations, becoming the first state crime lab to introduce such a policy. Later that same year, the Virginia General Assembly became the first American legislature to pass laws that required certain classes of offenders to submit DNA samples for inclusion in a DNA databank. This law required certain sex offenders and certain violent felons to provide samples for the databank. However, just one year later, the legislature expanded the law to require that all felons provide samples for inclusion in the state DNA databank and also required that all felons held in Virginia prisons provide samples upon their release. In 1992, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of Virginia's databasing system. Forty-nine Other States Established Databanks Within Nine Years Within nine years of Virginia's establishment of the first state DNA databank, the other forty-nine states passed laws requiring the collection of DNA samples from certain criminals for the purposes of establishing state DNA databanks. All fifty states require DNA samples from convicted sex offenders, with some states collecting from all classes of felons, as well as certain classes of misdemeanants. Additionally, the FBI estimates that most states will eventually begin to collect DNA from all convicted felons when the cost of collecting and analyzing DNA decreases.
Extractions: Biology (Forensic) - Biology, the study of life, is fundamental to Forensic Science and Medicine. The boundaries and sub-divisions within are fluid, but its application to death and crime scene investigations is essential. Cellular and molecular biology, genetics (and other sub-specialties focusing on human populations) and biomedicine benefit - and benefit from - the investigation of practitioners of the Forensic Sciences.
Extractions: This discusses forensic science. Forensic science is science applied to law to correctly identify perpetrators and exonerate the innocent. It is accurate and meant to lead to resolution. DNA cloning is an important aspect of science as forensic science involves many different areas of finding evidence in the cause of justice. If misapplied, forensic science can become a curse. Genetic information plays a crucial role and perhaps the most promising role in forensic science.
DNA, Future Of Criminal Justice Addressed Hart, who worked on the frontlines of criminal investigations in There arestill a lot of questions about how dna can be collected, traced and used. http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2005/oct/dna110804.html
Extractions: DNA, future of criminal justice addressed Sarah Hart, director of the National Institute of Justice 3:18 p.m., Nov. 8, 2004Sarah V. Hart, director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in Washington, D.C., made a strong case for expanding the use of DNA in criminal investigations in a lecture she gave Friday afternoon, Nov.5, at the Willard Hall Education Building. is expensive, but it can be incredibly Hart, who worked on the frontlines of criminal investigations in Philadelphia for more than a decade before joining the NIJ in 2001, explained how DNA use is particularly valuable in matching perpetrators whose crimes follow patterns but whose locales shift. I Hart concluded her lecture by answering questions and speaking informally with audience members.
Extractions: State Police DNA analysts Amanda Montgomery, left, Jasmine Thomas and Joanie Wilson are in training. They help make up a new DNA division at the agency's crime lab. Louisiana has no DNA database to check evidence against in criminal investigations, State Police experts said Thursday. The state has 15,000 unanalyzed DNA samples and 2,000 analyzed samples, said Capt. Brian Wynne, who runs the State Police Crime Lab, but at this point all comparisons have to be done by hand. That means that for investigators to determine if the serial killer who has killed at least three Baton Rouge women is responsible for any other crimes, they must tell analysts which cases to examine and then wait for those comparisons to be done manually. State Police Col. Terry Landry said Wednesday that analysts were checking a database of samples obtained from people convicted of certain crimes and from the scenes of unsolved crimes to see if any other cases could be linked to the Baton Rouge serial killer. Wynne said State Police will begin uploading local samples to the federal DNA database, called CODIS, next week and will submit samples to that database regularly after that.
Extractions: DNA technology frees the innocent as well as convicting the guilty. By Ronald Bailey The impeachment of President Clinton underscored the growing importance of DNA evidence in criminal investigations. If it weren't for the telltale stain on a certain blue dress, the president might still be insisting that he "never had sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky." DNA testing was first used in Britain in 1986 to prosecute serial rapist and murderer Colin Pitchfork. Today, DNA testing is regularly used to convict criminals, much as fingerprints have been for many years. "No other form of evidence for identifying human beings has gone through such a rigorous scientific and legal validation as DNA has," says Christopher Asplen, executive director of the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence, a panel of expert advisers set up by the U.S. Department of Justice. "Now it's the most reliable evidence we've got." DNA testing is a powerful way to identify people because nearly every human cell contains it, and each person's DNA is unique (except in the case of identical twins). In 1998, the Federal Bureau of Investigation created the National DNA Index System (NDIS), which links the DNA databases of 18 states so far. Eventually, all 50 states are expected to participate in the NDIS. These databases currently contain the genetic profiles of some 210,000 criminals and are expanding rapidly. The profiles are based on DNA samples collected from people who have been convicted of murder, manslaughter, rape, or aggravated assault. Some states, such as Virginia, require that all convicted felons provide DNA samples for profiling. The databases are far from complete. Paul Ferrara, director of the Virginia Division of Forensic Science, estimates that the DNA of 1 million felons nationally should have been collected but has not been and that half a million samples that have been collected are still not profiled.
Farwell Brain Fingerprinting 4.9 Brain Central to Crime and criminal Investigations * Conventionalfingerprinting and dna match physical evidence from a crime scene with evidence on http://www.mindcontrolforums.com/bf-research.htm
Extractions: States should collect DNA samples from convicted felons, arrestees, and suspects and should include these samples in a federally-mandated DNA database because the government's interests in solving and preventing crimes and seeking justice for victims far outweigh the minimal intrusion upon individuals by requiring submission to a DNA test. I. Introduction and Background States are authorized to collect DNA samples from their citizens under certain circumstances or with certain statutory limitations. Missouri's DNA profiling system and current Missouri law in this area will be discussed in the analysis section of this article. DNA databases are useful in solving past crimes that otherwise may remain unsolved. DNA databases also can be used in solving future crimes. For example, DNA samples taken from prisoners and entered into a DNA database proved useful in solving a Virginia case in which a woman was brutally attacked and raped in her home. Police had no physical description of the attacker, but the DNA sample in the database matched a sample of semen found at the scene of the crime. That sample helped police identify and convict a suspect who is now serving a life sentence in conjunction with an additional 30 years. DNA databases are also useful in exonerating suspects and those wrongly convicted.
Human Genome Project: Ethical, Legal, & Social Issues Comprehensive resource covering forensic identification, arising from the humangenome project, discussing accuracies, potential applications and databases http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/forensics.shtml
Extractions: Site Stats and Credits Quick Links to this page How does forensic identification work? Any type of organism can be identified by examination of DNA sequences unique to that species. Identifying individuals within a species is less precise at this time, although when DNA sequencing technologies progress farther, direct comparison of very large DNA segments, and possibly even whole genomes, will become feasible and practical and will allow precise individual identification.
Extractions: The State Crime Laboratory is one of a select few labs in the country to be accredited on its very first inspection by the American Society of Crime Lab Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB). The Crime Laboratory was officially accredited on May 5, 2000 in the areas of controlled substances, toxicology, trace evidence, seology and firearms/toolmark identification. * Louisiana Association of Forensic Scientists The DNA Unit of the Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory consists of two sections: the Forensic DNA Analysis Section and the CODIS DNA Section. The Forensic DNA Analysis section of the Crime Lab analyzes biological material found at a crime scene or associated with a criminal investigation and attempts to include or exclude potential suspects or victims as the source of the biological material. Analysts in the Forensic DNA Analysis Section perform the following functions on a regular basis:
