Forensics News and Research

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DNA forensic test frees prisoner with life sentence after having served 18 years

In a landmark case, a prisoner with a life sentence was freed after serving 18 years in a Florida prison, based on DNA findings presented by DDC (DNA Diagnostics Center). DNA analysis and testimony provided by Dr. Julie Heinig, DDC's DNA Forensics Assistant Laboratory Director, is credited with leading to the exoneration of Derrick Williams earlier this week. DDC is the largest provider of private DNA paternity and other DNA testing in the United States and worldwide.

8 Apr 2011

Experimental Biology 2011 to be held April 9-13 in Washington, D.C.

The meeting Experimental Biology 2011 (EB 2011) begins April 9 and runs through April 13 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

8 Apr 2011

LabCorp to acquire Orchid Cellmark

Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings and Orchid Cellmark Inc., an international provider of DNA testing services primarily for forensic and family relationship applications, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger under which LabCorp will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Orchid Cellmark in a cash tender offer for $2.80 per share for a total purchase price to stockholders and optionholders of approximately $85.4 million.

6 Apr 2011

Differences in craniofacial features of men and women have become less pronounced

Research from North Carolina State University shows that they really don't make women like they used to, at least in Spain. The study, which examined hundreds of Spanish and Portuguese skulls spanning four centuries, shows that differences in the craniofacial features of men and women have become less pronounced.

6 Apr 2011

CIC microGUNE uses DNA stretching technique to detect illnesses

Making DNA sequences being passed through nanochannels a thousand times thinner than a human hair to the point that they take on the form of diminutive spaghetti.

6 Apr 2011

New research: Methadone can affect brain and impair intellectual functions

Methadone has been used to treat heroin addicts for nearly 50 years. Yet we have surprisingly incomplete knowledge about possible harmful effects from prolonged use. New research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that methadone affects the brain and impairs the attention of experimental animals.

24 Mar 2011

New research: Skeleton's femur characteristics can reveal individual's weight

One of the blind spots in forensic science, particularly in identifying unknown remains, is the inability of experts to determine how much an individual weighed based on his or her skeleton.

23 Mar 2011

New synchrotron-based imaging technique offers more detailed chemical images

With intensity a million times brighter than sunlight, a new synchrotron-based imaging technique offers high-resolution pictures of the molecular composition of tissues with unprecedented speed and quality. Carol Hirschmugl, a physicist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), led a team of researchers from UWM, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to demonstrate these new capabilities.

21 Mar 2011

UCI receives two-year grants to continue innovative work in elder abuse prevention

UC Irvine's Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse & Neglect has received a pair of two-year grants that will allow the university to continue its innovative work in elder abuse prevention.

16 Mar 2011

New insights into factors affecting adolescent marijuana use

What factors are associated with a higher or lower risk of marijuana use among adolescents? There are some important differences for boys versus girls, according to a study in the March Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

14 Mar 2011

Institute for Genome Sciences plays key role in investigation of anthrax attacks

Researchers at the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and collaborators at the FBI, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and Northern Arizona University have published the first scientific paper based on their investigation into the anthrax attacks of 2001.

8 Mar 2011

Radiologists develop new non-surgical post-mortem technique

A new non-surgical post-mortem technique that has the potential to revolutionise the way autopsies are conducted around the world has been pioneered by forensic pathologists and radiologists at the University of Leicester in collaboration with the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

1 Mar 2011

Biomatrica announces strategic partnership agreement with In-Q-Tel

Biomatrica, Inc., a leader in room temperature biostability technology, today announced a strategic partnership agreement with In-Q-Tel. IQT is the independent, strategic investment firm that identifies innovative technology solutions to support the mission of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

24 Feb 2011

New DNA microarray detects genetic changes differentiating cancer patients from healthy individuals

A group of researchers led by scientists from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech have developed a new technology that detects distinct genetic changes differentiating cancer patients from healthy individuals and could serve as a future cancer predisposition test.

23 Feb 2011

New review of anthrax case discussed by review committee vice chair, Stanford bioterrorism expert

In 2001, a mystery perpetrator mailed a series of anthrax-laced letters to several locations, killing five people. In 2008, shortly after emerging as the prime suspect in an exhaustive investigation by the FBI, an Army microbiologist, Bruce Ivins, PhD, committed suicide. This morning, a National Academy of Sciences committee, charged in September 2008 with reviewing the scientific approaches used by the FBI in that investigation, released its report.

15 Feb 2011

Abbott's Ibis, PLEX-ID technologies identify causative organism of plague in Afghanistan

Today, at the American Society for Microbiology Conference on Biodefense and Emerging Diseases, scientists from Abbott Molecular presented data showing the unique power of the company's Ibis technology to identify and further characterize unknown disease-causing pathogens to help aid in the bioforensic analysis of pandemic outbreaks.

8 Feb 2011

Abbott launches PLEX-ID Biothreat Assay to detect, distinguish 17 different pathogens

Abbott announced today that it has introduced the PLEX-ID Biothreat Assay, which is designed to detect and distinguish 17 different biothreat pathogens.

7 Feb 2011

Surrogate questions imaging can answer about cancer

A Professor who is investigating how modern body imaging techniques can be adapted to answer new questions - such as the anti-cancer properties of fish oils and green tea, or establishing cause of death in forensic investigation - is to give a free public lecture at the University of Leicester.

3 Feb 2011

NIH awards CMU $1.2 million grant to analyze ethical, policy problems linked with DNA ID practices

Forensic DNA profiling has become a standard tool in the search for missing people in the aftermath of mass violence and disaster, but until now there has been very little effort to identify and analyze the major ethical and policy challenges associated with this new use of genetic technology.

3 Feb 2011

SAGE Labs, Cofactor Genomics partner to sequence genomes for six widely used rat strains

Sigma Life Science, the innovative biological products and services business of Sigma-Aldrich®, today announced that its SAGE Labs initiative has partnered with Cofactor Genomics in an effort to sequence genomes for six of the most widely used strains of rat.

3 Feb 2011

Forensics News and Research

DNA forensic test frees prisoner with life sentence after having served 18 years

Experimental Biology 2011 to be held April 9-13 in Washington, D.C.

LabCorp to acquire Orchid Cellmark

Differences in craniofacial features of men and women have become less pronounced

CIC microGUNE uses DNA stretching technique to detect illnesses

New research: Methadone can affect brain and impair intellectual functions

New research: Skeleton's femur characteristics can reveal individual's weight

New synchrotron-based imaging technique offers more detailed chemical images

UCI receives two-year grants to continue innovative work in elder abuse prevention

New insights into factors affecting adolescent marijuana use

Institute for Genome Sciences plays key role in investigation of anthrax attacks

Radiologists develop new non-surgical post-mortem technique

Biomatrica announces strategic partnership agreement with In-Q-Tel

New DNA microarray detects genetic changes differentiating cancer patients from healthy individuals

New review of anthrax case discussed by review committee vice chair, Stanford bioterrorism expert

Abbott's Ibis, PLEX-ID technologies identify causative organism of plague in Afghanistan

Abbott launches PLEX-ID Biothreat Assay to detect, distinguish 17 different pathogens

Surrogate questions imaging can answer about cancer

NIH awards CMU $1.2 million grant to analyze ethical, policy problems linked with DNA ID practices

SAGE Labs, Cofactor Genomics partner to sequence genomes for six widely used rat strains

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