Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

New DNA Test to Solve More Cases

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the you-can't-get-away-with-anything-anymore dept.

Krishna Dagli writes From the BBC,"Tens of thousands of unsolved crimes could be cracked with a new forensic technique, it has been claimed.The Forensic Science Service (FSS) is piloting a computer-based analysis system which can interpret previously unintelligible DNA samples.It claims the technique is a world first which will boost its crime detection rates by more than 15%.The method is being tested by the West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Northumbria and Humberside police forces."

5 of 65 comments (clear)

  1. More Importantly... by Quaoar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...it will hopefully free lots of people who have been falsely accused of crimes they didn't commit.

    --
    I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
    1. Re:More Importantly... by geekoid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      well, except for the dead ones.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:More Importantly... by Hennell · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That seems unlikely to happen; it seems to be more about reading "previously unintelligible DNA samples" then mending false positives. Not to mention that going into the 'solved cases' pile seems less high on their priority's then the 'cold cases' pile (Then again with prison overcrowding as it is, it could get higher on their list...)

  2. West Yorkshire crimes solved! by leehwtsohg · · Score: 3, Funny

    West Yorkshire. A large number of crimes have recently been solved in this slumbering community. Using a new forensic technique, crime investigators were able to implicate most of the current police force in what was previously reported to be "unsolved" or "mysterious" crimes. 'As our DNA evidence clearly shows, the whole police department was involved in the crimes and their cover up. The crimes were then classified as "unsolved" to cover up their tracks. We have never seen such a wide spread of corruption.' Unidentified sources claimed that the are similar investigation of the police force in 3 other communities.

  3. For you non-wetware workers by DrKyle · · Score: 4, Informative

    DNA fingerprinting basically measures the number of repeat units at ~13 different locations in the genome. As you have 2 copies of your chromosomes you esentially get a unique 26 digit code. Looking at just one of the repeat locations, let's say the normal range is 8 to 12 repeats, so you can be an 8,8 8,9 8,10, 8,11 8,12 9,9 9,10, 9,11 9,12 10,10 10,11 10,12 11,11 11,12 or 12,12 (so there are 15 possibilities seen in the population, with generally similar frequencies for each). The chance of matching your sample with any randomly selected unknown will be 1 in 15, but if we go up to 13 different markers we have (1/15)^13 which gives a chance of any 2 UNRELATED individuals matching being about 1 in a quadrillion (more people than have ever lived, and likely ever will live). This means a match is a definite match, this doesn't mean evidence wasn't planted or some such conspiracy crap, but a match is a match, no chance of a collision like with 2 people having O- blood.

    The "new" stuff here is that they have come up with software which will allow the system to extract 2 sets of "seial numbers" from one reaction. Like having 2 fingerprints on top of one another and seperating them to determine the swirls. They also are claiming a more sensitive technique which will allow for smaller or partially degraded samples to be tested, but this is probably just tweaking the experimental protocol.

    This is no new test, just tweaks and algorithms.