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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- From the TV screen to real life, crime scene investigators are using a new technique that could help catch criminals!
If youve ever watched Law and Order or CSI, you know how important DNA can be in a crime scene. But now, thanks to a discovery by genomics researchers, investigators will be able to identify possible suspects at crime scenes using a small amount of DNA, even if it is mixed with hundreds of other DNA samples!
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From a mix of up to 200 individual DNA samples, scientists are able to identify an individuals DNA using a technique called high-density Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genotyping microarrays. Theoretically, scientists say individuals could be identified in mixes of more than 1,000 people. Using current methods, it is difficult for investigators to detect an individuals DNA if it makes up less than 10 percent of the total mix.
This is a potentially revolutionary advance in the field of forensics, senior author David W. Craig, Ph.D., associate director of Translational Genomics Research Institutes Neurogenomics Division. By employing the powers of genomic technology, it is now possible to know with near certainty that a particular individual was at a particular location, even with only trace amounts of DNA and even if dozens or even hundreds of others were there, too.
SOURCE: PLoS Genetics, published online August 29, 2008
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