New DNA Test to Solve More Cases

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."

More Importantly...

[Quaoar (614366)]

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

Re:More Importantly...

[geekoid (135745)]

well, except for the dead ones.

Re:More Importantly...

[Hennell (1005107)]

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...)

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[TubeSteak (669689)]

(Then again with prison overcrowding as it is, it could get higher on their list...)

Step 1: Remove non-violent drug offenders from prison
Step 2: Insert the above into rehabilitation programs
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit

I imagine Step 3 involves Gov't funds being given to (faith based) rehab programs

As for this new DNA test, unless it is faster, cheaper and/or more likely to stand up in court, I don't see it as making a huge difference. From what I understand, DNA testing labs are already at/near max capacity.

A

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[malsdavis (542216)]

"From what I understand, DNA testing labs are already at/near max capacity."
Here in the UK where the research is being pioneered (but I persume it is the same for everywhere,) a large part of the reason for this is that so many DNA sources are contaminated, which means lots more testing for labs, which means capacity is reached sooner.

So yes, it could make a huge difference. It is not expensive to test for DNA, it is expensive to test every single item possibly touched by the offender. If this technique mea

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[JaWiB (963739)]

Yes, but how fast can this techinique be applied? Don't crime labs/law enforcement officials already have far too many cases to devote their time to?

Two major problems

[SuperBanana (662181)]

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

Two problems: 1)The system/process will be made mostly available to "solving" crimes, not freeing criminals; it's bad prioritization politically, existing criminals could swamp the system, and if a guilty criminal were released after a false negative and was a repeat offender, there'd be hell to pay. 2)While a "maybe a match" will certainly be grounds for the police getting warrants and such, a "maybe no

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[Qzukk (229616)]

DNA match evidence is widely perceived as completely reliable by juries, public, judges, etc...and a less-reliable matching will erode that confidence.

Absolutely right! DNA tests are 100% accurate and foolproof [chron.com]. The prosecutors say so themselves [truthinjustice.org]. In fact, this new test is so easy, all you do is push a button, and the screen lights up "guilty".

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[suv4x4 (956391)]

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

It works the opposite way: when you claim there's a false positive, you'll get even less people to believe you, since now "we're 15% more accurate!".

It's just like the lie detector, or monitoring your internet logs for looking up "teen" in google.

Imagine if police could arrest you if your horoscope was certain you'll kill someone today and put you in jail. Crime "discoverability" will certainly raise when the

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[suv4x4 (956391)]

Imagine how many people of that star sign would be killing people if the horoscope was right.

Yup, arresting all those people in advance would be such a win for crime discoverability and prevention.

West Yorkshire crimes solved!

[leehwtsohg (618675)]

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.

Suspect Database

[nurb432 (527695)]

But if your suspect hasnt been taken into custody as of yet? Why not just 'swab' the entire world population.

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[DrMindWarp (663427)]

But if your suspect hasnt been taken into custody as of yet? Why not just 'swab' the entire world population. The UK has the world's largest citizen DNA database. Just about any encounter you have with the UK police, irrespective of your age and state of guilt or innocence, will result in your DNA being taken and integrated into their database. e.g. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4720328.st m [bbc.co.uk]

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[Da3vid (926771)]

The DNA matching isn't a 100% match. For example, most DNA matching techniques are highly accurate... say they're accurate to 1 in 250 million. Still, if you run a sample only by the USA database... on average, you'd have a wrong match every single search. Sure, it narrows it down... but it just isn't as simple as it sounds.

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[badfish99 (826052)]

That's very nearly what is happening in the UK. Basically anyone who has any dealings with the police has a DNA sample taken, even if they are never charged with anything. And there are plans to fingerprint the entire population.

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[$RANDOMLUSER (804576)]

What do you have to hide, citizen? Either you're with us, or you're with the terrists. Comply. Share and Enjoy.

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[by Anonymous Coward]

Here's the secret about DNA tests: They don't identify you.

The original tests looked for a certain number of snippets of DNA that were considered "genes". Fewer than a dozen at first, but towards the end of this test's usage, they were up to about 16. With only 2^16 possibilities ("there or not there", 16 times), it matched you, probably your family members, and about 50 thousand other people, assuming that none of those snippets of DNA were actually the gene for having two arms or something like that, si

You mean...

[mnmn (145599)]

You mean the DNA tests for the past few decades havent been 100% ?!?

This sounds like Intel's marketing department.

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[Ironsides (739422)]

You mean the DNA tests for the past few decades havent been 100% ?!?

The DNA can be a match and still not come from the suspect. All DNA is based on statistics.

Marker A is in 0.25% of the population, Marker B is in 0.01%, C is in 0.3% and D is in 0.01% and E is in 1/3. That means that if someone has ABCDE they are 1 in 400,000. Granted, those aren't exactly real numbers and the tests can use over 10 different markers, but it gives you an idea of how the system works. Currently, it is impossible to s

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[Ironsides (739422)]

Actually, the identical twins problem has occured before. Fortunately, the other twin has had an airtight alibi for where they were at the time of a crime. Sometimes they other twin happens to be in jail, sometimes out of state, but so far the case of which twin did it has not actually been a problem just yet.

For you non-wetware workers

[DrKyle (818035)]

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.

Upping the what now?

[jesdynf (42915)]

The /crime detection/ rate is up by 15%? Just great. How many headless corpses and savage beatings were we not noticing before this? Are they finally going to start ticketing that bastard who parks in the middle of four spaces in my complex or something?

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[badfish99 (826052)]

Suppose there are 10 headless corpses each week, and the police can't explain 5 of them. That's a rate of 50%. All they need to do is to issue tickets to 3 bastards who park in the wrong place, and now they've solved 8 crimes out of 13, so the rate is over 60%, which is more than 15% up.

So yes, I would think that you are probably in luck.

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[Ironsides (739422)]

Now, any Brits here want to say the obligatory "Damn Yanks?"

I thought only we Southerners said that? And trust me, you have never heard "Damn Yankess" until you've heard it from someone from Mississippi.

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[Andrew Kismet (955764)]

Damn Yanks!