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Briefcase Sized DNA Analysis System
An anonymous reader writes "Japan's NEC Corporation along with Aida Engineering have developed a briefcase-sized DNA analysis system that enables the police to perform comprehensive DNA testing at crime scenes in as little as 25 minutes. The same test would take at least a day to a week (if re-testing or conformation is required) in the lab. The system is compact enough to be carried to crime scenes or other locations where quick DNA analysis is required, making it the world's first portable DNA analysis system."
This will be great for planting that DNA evidence that CSI watching juries love so much.
and I wouldn't mind sharing my DNA with the girl in the photo.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
So now the police can tamper with the evidence at the scene, rather than having the lab do it.
khasim (12/9/06): In a blind taste test, more people preferred Coke over the Pepsi that I had previously pissed in.
which also fit into a briefcase.
...)
(In the category "Things I want vs. things I need"
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
Rubbish, you obviously haven't worked in a nice lab. You think they are using full sized SDS gels for this? Agilent systems have capillary gel chips that run samples far more accurately and in a fraction of the time of SDS-Page.
And you think they're using a SPEC to check nucleic acid levels? Christ! just because you're using equipment form the 90s doesn't mean everyone else is!
A southern blot (process involving the removal of DNA from a gel) is usually allowed to run overnight.
!!!!
OK, i give up, you've been locked in a room since the 1960's right?
Criminal : "I didn't kill anybody!"
SGT. "So, you say you're not the killer eh? We'll see about that. We just got this new test that'll tell us if you murdered him or not."
Officer : "Aight Sarget. I got the kit. It says we need parental supervision before handling chemicals."
SGT. : "Set timer for five minutes."
Officer : "Check."
SGT. : "Fill Vial 'A' with 25ml saline solution."
Officer : "Check."
SGT. : "Warm to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Then add suspect sample to Vial 'A'."
Officer : "Check. No wait....Ok. Check."
SGT. : "Activate timer. After 2.5 minutes, Add 2ml of liquid from evidence sample in Vial 'B'. Stir with enclosed plastic rod."
Officer : "Check."
--5 minutes later--
Officer : "Time!"
SGT. : "Using enclosed eydropper, place ONE (1) drop onto test strip in marked area. BLUE=MATCH, CLEAR=NO MATCH"
Officer : "What if it's pink?"
SGT. : "He's pregnant."
I would seriously question the accuracy of these tests, since there a many factors, both environmental and analytical that can affect the outcome of the test. Laboratory tests are meant to be conducted in a LABORATORY, not a Samsonite briefcase. Now, you will be giving every rookie officer who can hold a Q-Tip the same credibility as an educated, trained, and well-experienced forensic technician.
Laboratory setting are ideal for conducting tests and experiments: The are well-equipped, well-engineered, staffed by technicians with years of experience (discounting interns, of course), don't sacrifice accuracy for space, and allow a consistent, managed environment for evidence analysis, storage, and custody control. Treating DNA evidence as if it were a case of bad breath is just wrong. If I were a judge, I would seriously question the integrity of such tests and their results.
This is treating Forensic Science less like science and more like a "Conviction-In-A-Can".
Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....