New DNA technique may reveal face of killer in unsolved double-murder
By Cristina Corbin
Published January 19, 2015
[...]
Reston, Va.-based Parabon Nanolabs, with funding from the Department of Defense, has debuted a breakthrough type of analysis called DNA phenotyping which the company says can predict a person's physical appearance from the tiniest DNA samples, like a speck of blood or strand of hair.
The DNA phenotyping service, commercially known as "Snapshot," could put a face on millions of unsolved cases, including international ones, and generate investigative leads when the trail has gone cold.
[...]
The investigator or crime lab sends evidence or extracted DNA to a Snapshot partner lab, where the DNA is run on a genotyping machine to produce the genetic information, according to the company. This genetic information is then securely transferred to Parabon, where an analyst runs it through Snapshot's predictive models to produce a prediction. A report of the results is then delivered to the agency that requested it.
The new DNA analysis, however, is not able to predict age and height -- traits Greytak described as "very complex."
more at the link
http://snapshotdna.com/
DNA Snapshot Puts a Face on a Four-Year-Old Cold Case
Posted on January 12, 2015 by Laura Burgess
[...]
Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company located in Reston, Virginia has been developing Snapshot for nearly four-years with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Snapshot gives crime solvers a new way to use DNA.
Current DNA analysis techniques employed by law enforcement attempt to match a DNA sample from a crime scene with the DNA of potential suspects or criminals registered in a DNA database. This process is definitive when a match can be found, however most DNA crime scene samples do not produce a match. In those cases, Snapshot provides investigators with perhaps the most pertinent information on the potential suspect – a composite sketch derived solely from DNA evidence.
Ellen McRae Greytak, Ph.D., Parabon’s Director of Bioinformatics explains, “Human DNA encodes the genetic information that largely determines a person’s physical appearance. A copy of this genetic code or “DNA blueprint” exists in every cell of the body, which makes DNA a potentially invaluable source of investigative information. However, traditional DNA forensic analysis ignores genetic content and treats DNA as simply a biometric identifier, a “DNA fingerprint” that can be used for matching to a known individual.”
Read more:
http://www.ammoland.com/2015/01/dna-snapshot-puts-a-face-on-a-four-year-old-cold-case/#ixzz3RgqJmr4d
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
Follow us: @Ammoland on Twitter | Ammoland on Facebook