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Biotech Technology

Briefcase Sized DNA Analysis System 95

Posted by samzenpus from the portable-paternity dept.
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."
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Briefcase Sized DNA Analysis System More

Briefcase Sized DNA Analysis System

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  • Awesome! (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This will be great for planting that DNA evidence that CSI watching juries love so much.
    • Is this truly bettr than the TurboGrafx-16?

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by daniorerio ( 1070048 )
      Indeed, I had a lecture from the director of our national forensic institute (Dutch) once, explaining the whole procedure of obtaining DNA, what they actually analyze and how they verify the validity. There is a reason why these tests take up to 2 weeks to give a result: Once you as a scientist say "we have DNA evidence, we got him!" it pretty much seals the deal. So you got to be damn sure you are right: -what are the odds that an identical DNA pattern from someone else came there (no they don't sequence y

    • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Mmm. If you presented to a court that 'field DNA testing indicated that the sample we found came from the suspect, though when sent to control in the lab, results came back negative.' or some such, can't you just imagine your average jury going off and deciding that 'we have 50% DNA proof of guilt'?
    • This is old news. MIT developed the first version of this in the late 90s and I wrote it up in an encyclopedia on tracking and locating systems back in 1997. Now it has just been comercialized that's all. Trickfox

  • Oh, yippee!! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by $RANDOMLUSER ( 804576 ) on Wednesday September 26, 2007 @09:17PM (#20763125)
    Can't wait to see the minimum-wage TSA employees using this.
    Coming soon! To an airport near you!!

    • Re:Oh, yippee!! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 26, 2007 @10:09PM (#20763507)

      Can't wait to see the minimum-wage TSA employees using this.
      Coming soon! To an airport near you!!
      The parent might have said something to fire up the crowd, but in all honesty, don't be suprised if it appears at passport office as a part of getting your passport, then becomes a part of your driver's license acquisition, then lands in every police car and station and finally at the checkout counter as part of using your credit card or purchasing certain items. The real flamebait is going to be when a true patriot spits in the eye of the first bureaucratic employee to tell him they have to have a DNA sample from him. Ptui, there is your sample.

      Even the article states this can be used by law enforcement, so don't be suprised when DHS decrees that the parent is correct. Hope the samples aren't taken via blood as enough errors have proven fatal in the past in that regard and by professionals, much less low wage bullies at the airport. I hope this doesn't happen and perhaps the parent should have waited to say anything till it did, but I fear he is most prophetic in this regard. His prophecy may fire up the crowd, but we honestly should fear such abuse of our rights by the government and it is absurd that we put up with what they are already doing.

      Everyone here knows of certain Ben Franklin quotes, but here is something he probably would agree on, a little manipulation of some of his old quotes: A liberty saved is a liberty earned. Take care of minor liberties and the major liberies will take care of themselves.

      • Chimerism (Score:2, Interesting)

        by BuGless ( 31232 )
        Given that DNA tests become more mainstream, it would be rather interesting to see how large a percentage of the population actually is a chimera [wikipedia.org]. If it turns out to be "popular", DNA tests could lose a lot of their credibility (in which case DNA-tests-at-the-counter become a hazard instead of a benefit).

  • The gadget is cool and all ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ScrewMaster ( 602015 ) on Wednesday September 26, 2007 @09:18PM (#20763129)
    and I wouldn't mind sharing my DNA with the girl in the photo.

  • Great (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 26, 2007 @09:21PM (#20763157)
    So now the police can tamper with the evidence at the scene, rather than having the lab do it.
  • Will love this new system!
  • we see this used in CSI?

    And Law & Order?

    and CSI:Miami?

    and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit?

    and NCIS?

    and Desperate Housewives?

    and Law & Order: CI?

    and OJ?
    • What are you talking about? CSI pulled a Star Trek with this, predicting its availability before it came about, except that it was locked in the lab building.

      Of course, in order to keep up, CSI will have to make these pocket-sized and taking only four seconds to complete, with instant radio uplinks to a database that magically has the DNA information of every single person that has ever lived in the last sixty years.

      And then when that becomes reality, they'll have computers so good they'll know who committ

  • but officer are you allowed to do that (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I cannot imagine my rights being violated by some brash badge or overzealous detective. Never. I imagine all of the data collected will be kept private and secure. I cannot imagine my dna ever falling into the wrong hands. I cannot fathom an hmo denying to insure me due to my genes. No another tool which has added another layer of security and safety to the average true blooded american citizen. And for those nasty criminals (ahem *citizens*) we can use those new fangled pain guns to get them to give sample
    • I cannot imagine my dna ever falling into the wrong hands.

      You afraid they'll make a little clone of you?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      If the only reason you're not getting your rights violated is because they don't have the technology, technology isn't the problem, your government is.
  • Just don't try and take it on a plane eh?
    "It's not a bomb- just has a lot of wires is all...."
    "Please don't open that... it's worth more than a house."

  • Gattaca (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Nick Driver ( 238034 ) on Wednesday September 26, 2007 @09:46PM (#20763353)
    I guess it won't be long now until we see a sampler/scanner that fits into a turnstile.

  • Confirmation (Score:4, Insightful)

    by cataclyst ( 849310 ) on Wednesday September 26, 2007 @09:49PM (#20763375) Homepage
    From the blurb:

    The same test would take at least a day to a week (if re-testing or conformation is required) in the lab.

    Um, correct me if I'm wrong here, but the 1-7 days is still gonna be the case if/when you're verifying your results. This is just a "quick and dirty" test that will gain more acceptance and weight that it will deserve (::cough::POLYGRAPH::cough::). My guess is that it will just be a tool that Homeland Security/Your Average Cop will use to hold you until other tests *conclusively* provide a definite presence/absence answer (like PCR done by an ISO certified lab, HPLC done by an ISO certified lab, GCMS done by.. well you get the point.)

    Just my $0.02 here.
    • Detaining someone is one thing, the real question comes down to whether this test will be valid enough to (quickly) secure subsequent search warrants for the suspect's (car, house, business, etc). It would be nice if a lawyer could chime in on this.
    • "conformation is required"

      If Japan is to maintain its 98.8% conviction rate!

      SLM
    • Ok, so this is too late to be modded, and fairly off-topic, but can I say for the record that my new pet peeve is when people qualify a time range with "at least"? What, exactly, does "at least a day to a week" MEAN?! does it mean:
      • At least a day; at most a week?
      • at least, a day to a week (the interval can be no shorter than 7 days; compare: "6 days to a week and 6 days")?

      On top of being lazy, this lets people give bizarre and ill-defined deadlines -- what would you do if your mechanic said your car wo

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Polir ( 675291 )
      Depending on what kind of analysis unit is installed in it (working on precast acrylamide gel or using a capillary electrophoresis system like in ABI sequencers or fragment analysers) the results can be less acurate or pretty much accurate. Anyway a forensic DNA analysis must meet some standards and if this machine does not meet it then it won't be used. You can't give more or less accurate results. So if it will be accepted then it is accepted because it meets the standard and can provide accurate analysi

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by fishbowl ( 7759 )
        I think the purpose of this machine might be more to put a system in place where evidence *must* be collected and *must* be preserved, and the busy work of running a gel electrophoresis is just a means to that end. That's if someone really smart came up with this device.
    • There is something mis leading about the story - how can it take much longer in a lab, other then the transport time ?
      The lab can, due to its higher volume, have a large, automated system; such systems, at least in clinical diagnostics (roche, abbott, dade behring immunoassays) quicker and more reliable then poc (point of care ) systems.

      Re the accuracy, the basic idea is fine, but the devil is in the details - for instance, pcr based systems are notorious for cross contamination; if even a micro micro drop

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by fishbowl ( 7759 )

      >The same test would take at least a day to a week (if re-testing or conformation is required) in the lab.

      It's got nothing to do with the lab equipment. It takes four hours to do PCR. It takes about half an hour to do an Electrophoresis gel.
      If you have to schedule this to be done by a lab tech, you add some overhead and some latency, of course. But the claim is that a chemical process that takes hours can be done in "as little as 25 minutes." If that were true, the invention would be on the Nobel Pri
  • ...how this will affect the genealogy DNA market. Family Tree DNA charges several hundred for Y chromosome analysis over a month or so. It wouldn't take many people wanting faster results to cover costs.
  • I can't wait for CSI:Tokyo!
    • Cop: *pulls up in AE86 police car* Stop! Tokyo PD!

      Killer: You think you're just gonna take me in!? Like hell you will! *reaches for side of belt*

      *cue slow motion*

      *cop reaches for side of belt*

      Killer: Go! Murkrow!

      Cop: Charmeleon! I choose you!

      *cue seizure-inducing lights*

      Hey, I'd watch it.
  • 1. Will it connect to CODUS (sp?)
    2. Will it run Linux?

  • Methodology (Score:3, Interesting)

    by cephalien ( 529516 ) on Wednesday September 26, 2007 @10:17PM (#20763567)
    I wonder how this works; obviously, 25 minutes isn't enough time to perform any PCR (even something like hot start PCR), so does it rely on having sufficient amounts of DNA available to perform whatever test they're using? Sometimes that can be a not-inconsiderable amount.

    I didn't read the article, but eh. Just wondering.

  • They scan you with one of these things for all kinds of diseases. Why not auto insurance? Don't want any alcoholics on the road. The possibilities for abuse are endless.

  • NEC? (Score:1)

    by dgun ( 1056422 )
    I'll wait for the Nitendo DNA kit, thank you very much.
  • This little gadget doesn't do Officer Friendly much good as things are; he can run a quick DNA profile on a suspect and then - well, maybe radio it in?

    This little gadget doesn't reach its full Orwellian potential until the government completes compiling DNA profiles of every citizen in the country. They'll have this device shrunk down even smaller by then - maybe even have stand-alone installations in high traffic locations.

    Beats RFID and "Real ID" all ways - with one of these wirelessly linked to the gov

  • Someone let me know when we have a DNA sized briefcase analyzer.

    Then the TSA goons will all be chipped and expected to check every bag,

  • From TFA:

    The compact unit can be used to:
    (1) take cell samples,
    (2) extract the DNA,
    (3) perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification to generate copies of the DNA,
    (4) perform electrophoresis to measure the spacing between DNA bands (to create the genetic fingerprint), and
    (5) perform short tandem repeat (STR) analysis to create a unique genetic profile for the individual,"

    As I'm currently a grad student in biotechnology (and am performing similar processes in the lab), I feel compelled to r

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jhfry ( 829244 )
      I don't suppose you considered the possibility that this device was engineered and built by PHD's who have worked in the field longer than you knew it existed, and quite possibly are doing things you didn't even know were possible because they are the result of private, unpublished, research.

      I am not saying that your wrong, only that your making an assumption that is, quite possibly, false. I'd imagine that they would not announce that something like this is available if it more or less completely failed t
      • The problems associated with identifying suspects within a "fair margin of error" have been hashed out over hundreds of years. And the biggest problem has always tended to be false positives. It is not enough to say that the tests will be repeated with better accuracy later; the history of government is loaded with examples of such promises being made and never carried out.

        Very simply, this system is vulnerable to contamination and error.

        Remember that in the United States, the principle has always bee

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by flushingmemos ( 1022877 )
      I imagine they can do it in the time they say. I also imagine the results are very simple, like looking at one STR sequence and counting how many lengths of it are in the person's genome in a process similar to qPCR, less RFLP/southern, as parent seems to think. Despite what TFA might imply, I don't think there's endonuclease digestion involved. I may be wrong, and they could have a really, really fast breifcase thermocycler making this work. Maybe, doubt it.

      I'm not any kind of STR expert, but from cribb

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Biotech9 ( 704202 )
      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! [nanodrop.com]

      A southern blot (process involving the removal of DNA from a gel) is usually allowed to run overnight.

      !!!!

      OK, i give up, you've bee
      • And you expect that to work in the field, with minimally-trained operators who likely are not among the most intelligent segment of the population? Apples and oranges.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by reverseengineer ( 580922 ) *
      I was in complete agreement with the parent on the subject of the processing time- I figured 25 minutes could only possibly be the figure if PCR were unnecessary, as I considered 25 minutes to be quite impressive for just running the gel and the STR analysis. Then I looked at the Pink Tentacle post that the "article" blog post cites (the original NEC press release is in Japanese). According to Pink Tentacle's summary, PCR is part of the process, and from start to finish is under 25 minutes.

      Now, I've b

      • I have read recently that there has been a significant breakthrough in the minimum time needed for PCR, but I do not remember the source. Sorry about that. Regardless, I think too many people are forgetting here that these are field rather than lab conditions; the ideal situation does not apply, and this whole thing strikes me as a Bad Idea.

  • Potential Uses outside of Law Enforcement (Score:4, Funny)

    by teebob21 ( 947095 ) on Wednesday September 26, 2007 @11:16PM (#20763983) Journal
    I've already preordered mine.

    I've been wanting to find out which one of my neighbors is leaving the uhhh...deposits on my sheets while I'm at work and the wife is home. Obtaining reference samples will be easy: both of them flick their cigarette butts in my yard. I'm certain this will be cheaper than hiring a divorce attorney.
    (The quote does not apply to me; those words were uttered by a co-worker with whom I shared this article.)
  • PCR takes 4 hours, Electrophoresis takes half an hour to an hour. The portable machine may
    do these things, but it doesn't do them in "25 minutes". That would be a much bigger deal than
    mere portability.

    Anybody who has done the least bit of undergrad biology research knows this.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by varghan ( 834564 )
      No it doesn't take 4 hours: (Disclaimer: IAAMB) New PCR technologies (faster cyclers and faster enzymes http://www1.qiagen.com/HB/QIAGENFastCyclingPCRKit_EN.pdf [qiagen.com]) now allow PCR in as little as 10-20 minutes, instead of the usual ~90 minutes. Gel electrophoresis is also quite a bit faster than 45 minutes, so all this is definitely possible for specific optimized reactions as described here.
  • It's nothing but a gel electrophoresis kit in a carrying case with a built-in computer. Very gimmicky, and very scary that this might convict you of murder, and might do so even in the hands of someone who doesn't really understand the results they are interpreting. Hopefully it gets one thing right: It preserves the sample.
  • which also fit into a briefcase [techchee.com].

    (In the category "Things I want vs. things I need" ...)

    timothy
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I've seen all sorts of portable equipment in use over here in Germany. The Polizei used to use their spring-loaded sticks to "acquire" blood samples to send off to a lab. Now all they have to do is hold you down, pull out some blood in a syringe and they can do an on-the-spot drug test to determine if they have probably cause to search your vehicle for drugs.

    A piece of equipment like this would undoubtedly make it into their squad cars to track down people who left DNA at a crime scene.
  • Improper procedures, accidental contamination, etc. I just don't see it. The fact that the technology is there does not mean that police are qualified to use it properly. Look at what a mess they have made of computer forensics and "profiling" statistics...

    Why would you take a segment of your population that is NOT exactly well-known for their IQs, and give them portable DNA-testing equipment? Seems like a recipe for disaster to me.
  • Good thing Greg Sanders is already out of the lab - this thing would SERIOUSLY jeopardize his job security.

  • I think this is a lot better than it appears to be in terms of keeping innocent people out of jail.

    You see although the odds of getting the same result for these STR checks between two random people is supposedly 1 in billions, in reality some papers put the odds of getting a false positive at 1 in 100. And the reasons are mostly due to lab errors. You have bad protocol. Sample degradation from being mishandled at the crime scene, or not being transported correctly, or being stored badly, sample mixup, misl
  • 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 wai
  • We call it Voight-Kampff for short.
  • a bit like the G.E.C.K. from Fallout.
  • Just after I graduated from uni, I took a bunch of temporary typing jobs (before I finally accepted my fate and took a job as a software developer...)

    One of the more interesting jobs was data-entering the forensic reports that came back from the lab, for the West Midlands Police Force. These contained a basic description of the case, as well as the results from the test and the cost that they were billed at (it seems that most of the forensic stuff was done by independant companies and billed back to the
  • I thought DNA was microscopic... but if there's some the size of a briefcase, then I guess we better analyze it.
  • Your honor, it's not my child ( or insert favorite bodily fluid )!.. err wait. what is that black box.? 'Arrgh! its 'instaDNA' ?!?!? I'm doomed!
  • It's great that they can scan my dna without leaving the scene and all, but wouldn't it be cool if it did it with a modified standard cdrom drive, like this chemical scanner [newscientist.com]?

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