If you're arrested for even the most minor charge, police will check your fingerprints against the national IAFIS database, where more than 70 million prints are on file. So why shouldn't they be able to check your DNA, too?

That's the question raised by state Sen. Nicholas Sacco, an advocate for greater use of DNA since 1994, years before CSI and DNA became well-known terms. He and I were running mates for the first time in 1993 and after we'd won the primary, we compiled a list of things we intended to do in Trenton. Among them was to get New Jersey into the FBI's CODIS database. New, it was used chiefly to track sex offenders and only a dozen states were participating. We introduced legislation requiring New Jersey to join.

Since we were minority party freshmen, it was easy for leadership to ignore us. And they did. But good friends and good luck were on our side. I inveigled an invitation to visit the FBI lab in Washington, saw DNA evidence being processed, and became a DNA evangelist.

FBI agents in Newark agreed to help us to talk to other legislators, and by sheer coincidence Curtis Sliwa, founder of the Guardian Angels, also offered to travel around with us. We drew some pretty funny reactions from our colleagues when we showed up with two men in dark blue suits and a bunch of guys in red berets, but we sure did get their attention.

State Police leaders were a tougher sell. Many felt DNA was pseudo-science and said their old, inadequate laboratory couldn't handle it anyway. That opposition melted, however, when our bill passed as part of the Megan's Law package and NJSP got funding for a new lab. As use of DNA expanded, more lawbreakers were convicted with the help of DNA evidence and some unjustly jailed persons were freed when DNA analysis proved they didn't do it.

In the late '90s, credible studies by experts in the criminal justice field reported few people start out committing major crimes. However, petty offenders are likely to escalate their criminal activities, so the experts said that identifying them early and offering alternatives could prevent that escalation. Sacco then introduced legislation calling for the collection of DNA from all convicted persons for inclusion in an all-crimes database.

That bill sparked another tough legislative battle. The ACLU and defense lawyers fought it every step of the way. Eventually it passed in a watered-down version that required only persons convicted of violent crimes to give DNA samples.

Collecting DNA is not invasive, just a swab of the inner cheek. It is as quick and easy as taking a photograph, an eye scan or a fingerprint. So Sacco feels there's no legitimate reason for anyone to refuse to give a sample. With a reliability factor of almost a billion to one, DNA can identify missing persons, convict guilty persons, and exonerate innocent persons. Sacco sees all good in that. He wonders "What's not to love?"

But some people don't love it at all. They include conspiracy theorists who believe Big Brother will use their DNA for nefarious purposes and privacy-rights folks protesting that recording their DNA is unconstitutional. Sacco politely listens to their arguments and then reminds them he's not giving up on his quest.

He is convinced that maintaining a DNA database of all convicted persons is inexpensive, easy to use, and will go a long way to keep the public safe. Maybe this is the year he'll get the chance to prove he's right.

Read the rest here:
Quigley: Expanding the DNA database

11 June 2012 Last updated at 10:51 ET

A rapist has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years after being convicted of attacking a 15-year-old girl in an Essex woodland almost 15 years ago.

Jon Molt, 34, was traced after his father provided a DNA sample as part of the police inquiry into the rape in Ten Metre Wood, Harlow, in December 1997.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard the sample provided a "familial match". Molt, from Rushes Mead, Harlow, had denied rape.

His victim said she was "extremely grateful" to police for catching him.

Prosecutor Carolyn Gardiner said the girl had attended a Christmas concert at her school and became concerned that her boyfriend, who played in the band, was not there and decided to walk to his house.

As she passed through a secluded area of the wood she became aware of somebody running behind her, the court heard.

Ms Gardiner said as the attacker tried to remove the girl's school uniform, she said: "Please don't hurt me, I'm only 15."

The prosecutor said: "She screamed and he struck her and said 'If you scream again I'm going to kill you and I'm going to kill you bad'."

I would like to thank them not only on my behalf, but for any future victims of this man who will now never have to go through the ordeal that I have had to endure

Read the original:
Rapist caught by DNA match jailed

ScienceDaily (June 10, 2012) Decoding the DNA of patients with advanced breast cancer has allowed scientists to identify distinct cancer "signatures" that could help predict which women are most likely to benefit from estrogen-lowering therapy, while sparing others from unnecessary treatment.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis uncovered mutations linked to whether or not women respond to aromatase inhibitors, drugs often prescribed to shrink large tumors before surgery. These mutations also correlate with clinical features of breast tumors, including how likely they are to grow quickly and spread.

The research, which also involved physicians and scientists at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine and The Genome Institute, is published June 10 in the advance online edition of Nature.

"This is one of the first cancer genomics studies to move beyond cataloging mutations involved in cancer to finding those linked to treatment response and other clinical features," says senior author Elaine Mardis, PhD, co-director of The Genome Institute. "If our results are validated in larger studies, we think genomic information will be one more data point for physicians to consider when they select among several treatment options for their patients."

The study involved DNA from 77 post-menopausal women with stage 2 or 3 estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer, the most common form of the disease. Estrogen stimulates the growth of these tumors, and all the women received aromatase inhibitors to lower estrogen in the body. The drugs can reduce the size of breast tumors, enabling many women to receive breast-conserving surgery rather than a mastectomy. But aromatase inhibitors only work in some women, and doctors don't know why.

To answer that question, the researchers compared the DNA in the tumor samples to matched DNA from the same patients' healthy cells, which allowed them to identify mutations that only occurred in the cancer cells. This "unbiased" approach finds all the mutations underlying a patient's cancer not just those that would be expected to occur.

The tumor samples came from women enrolled in one of two aromatase inhibitor clinical trials sponsored by the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group. As part of those trials, researchers had collected detailed information about the women's tumors and whether they responded to a four-month course of aromatase inhibitor therapy before surgery. Twenty-nine of the tumor samples came from women whose tumors were resistant to aromatase inhibitors, and 48 came from patients whose tumors responded.

Over all, the scientists noted that tumors in women who responded to the estrogen-lowering drugs had relatively few mutations, while those whose cancers were resistant to the treatment had higher mutation rates and were genomically more complex.

"This makes sense in hindsight but it's not something that we would have predicted," Mardis says.

The researchers identified 18 significantly mutated genes in the tumor samples, meaning the genes were altered more often than would have been expected. Some of these genes were already known to be important in breast cancer but others were completely unexpected, including a handful that are well-recognized for their role in leukemia.

Read the original post:
Decoding DNA finds breast tumor signatures that predict treatment response

By Tom Schoenberg - 2012-06-11T21:00:49Z

U.S. prosecutors sought to bolster the credibility of their DNA and drug use evidence against former New York Yankees pitcher Roger Clemens, accused of lying to Congress by denying that he used steroids and human growth hormone, as testimony in his perjury trial ended in Washington.

The government, which completed its case against Clemens today, put on three witnesses to rebut defense allegations that the evidence linking Clemens to a needle and cotton balls containing anabolic steroids was contaminated or faked.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton scheduled closing arguments for tomorrow and the jury may begin deliberating Clemenss fate in the afternoon.

Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner as the best pitcher in his league, is charged with one count of obstructing a congressional investigation into the use of performance- enhancing drugs by professional athletes.

Hes also charged with three counts of making false statements and of perjury stemming from his testimony to a House panel. If convicted, he faces as long as 21 months in prison.

The prosecutions evidence includes a needle and cotton with Clemenss DNA that tested positive for steroids. The material was given to prosecutors by Brian McNamee, Clemenss former trainer. McNamee, who spent six days testifying, told jurors that he gave the ballplayer injections of steroids and HGH during the 1998, 2000 and 2001 baseball seasons while both men worked for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Yankees.

McNamee told jurors he saved needles, gauze and vials from one of the injections in 2001 and kept some of the items in a Miller Lite beer can that he took from the recycling bin in Clemenss apartment.

Walton, for a second time, denied a defense motion to dismiss the case. He did say hes considering whether to throw out one of the 13 false or misleading statements in the charges having to do with Clemenss denial that he attended a pool party at the home of fellow Toronto Blue Jays teammate Jose Canseco in 1998.

The case is U.S. v. Clemens, 1:10-cr-00223, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).

Read the original:
Clemens Prosecutors Revisit DNA Evidence as Testimony Ends

Article updated: 6/11/2012 4:23 PM

Tyrone M. Young

DNA evidence has led to charges against an Aurora man for an August 2010 sex attack at the Oakhurst Forest Preserve community garden plots on the Auroras east side.

Tyrone M. Young, 30, who already faces charges for an attack in the womens bathroom of a home improvement store last summer, recently was indicted on 14 charges stemming from the garden plot attack, according to court records.

Young, of the 800 block of Sard Avenue, is charged with four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, three counts of criminal sexual assault, two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, four counts of aggravated battery and one count of unlawful restraint, the court records said.

We had DNA evidence that was slowly working its way through the state crime lab that came back as positive for Mr. Young, said Kane County Forest Preserve Police Chief Michael Gilloffo.

He also credited Forest Preserve Police Officer Patti Bowker for working with Aurora police on the case.

Authorities said a then-29-year-old woman told police she was gardening at about 1:30 p.m. Aug 28, 2010, when a man walked into the garden and suddenly attacked her and sexually assaulted her.

According to court documents, the woman was choked to the point of losing consciousness.

Several people pulled into the parking lot, called police and the attacker fled in a dark green, four-door Pontiac Grand Prix.

More here:
DNA leads to charges in 2010 Aurora garden plot attack

The Jerusalem municipality is planning to compile a DNA database for dogs in the Holy City in a bid to combat the problem of dog poo by tracing droppings back to the offending pooch.

In a statement, the municipality said it would first be collecting saliva samples from dogs in the city before inputting them into a citywide database.

'The municipality pilot project calls for establishment of a database of dog DNA to allow us to reduce the soiling of pavements, parks and public spaces,' the statement said.

Once the DNA database has been compiled, the city will conduct testing to see whether the samples can be effectively matched to dog droppings found around the city.

Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz said the municipality hoped to get saliva samples from around 70 to 80 per cent of the 11,000 dogs registered in Jerusalem.

Once the database is that complete, the program will begin trying to match droppings to the offending canine, charging each pooch's owner a fine of 750 shekels $A196).

City veterinarian Zohar Dvorkin told Haaretz that the system would create a much more efficient way for the municipality to combat the problem.

'This way, there will be nowhere to run,' he said.

Read the original here:
Doggie DNA database to trace poo

ASHEVILLE A man whose rape of a Buncombe County woman went unsolved for nearly five years until a DNA test linked him to the crime will spend more than 14 years in prison.

Antonio Cedillo Morales was prosecuted for obstruction of justice in 2008 after he gave authorities a false name when he was arrested for driving while impaired, District Attorney Ron Moore said.

While in prison serving a six-year sentence on the felony obstruction charge, a sample of his DNA was entered into the national Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS.

The system linked Morales to a July 2005 Woodfin home invasion and rape case that had gone unsolved, and he was charged in March 2010 with the violent crimes. Police said he broke into a house and assaulted a woman, and the victim did not know her attacker.

Weve been aggressive for many years with people who are not truthful with the court about their identity, Moore said. And when we are able to identify who they are, we prosecute them for identity fraud or obstruction of justice.

So, (Morales) goes to prison, and they take his DNA because he was a convicted felon. If we had just let him plead to DWI, we wouldnt have convicted him of a felony.

Morales, 40, who lived on Brookdale Road in Woodfin before his arrest, pleaded guilty this week in Buncombe County Superior Court to first-degree rape, first-degree burglary and assault by strangulation.

He was sentenced to 173-217 months in state prison. Morales had been scheduled to be released on the obstruction charge in August, according to N.C. Department of Correction records.

Moore said Morales is an illegal immigrant who has been deported twice.

CODIS can generate leads in cases where biological evidence is recovered from a crime scene, and investigators can search the database to assist in the identification of suspects.

Read the original:
DNA test solves Buncombe rape case

Sequencing of a fetal genome from parental samples demonstrates how we have advanced in genetic analyses, but the title of a June 6 article in The New York Times, "DNA Blueprint for Fetus Built Using Tests of Parents," gives me pause. While the content does reflect a few interviews where researchers caution against overemphasizing what DNA sequences can tell us, the majority of the public reading the headline will see, yet again, an oversimplified and potentially damaging version of what we actually know about genetics.

Genes play an important role in our development and functioning, not as directors but as parts of a complex system. "Blueprints" is a poor way to describe genes. It is misleading to talk about genes as doing things by themselves. There are very few instances of direct gene-to-trait scenarios, even in well known "genetic" disorders. Traits emerge from the interactions of genes and a range of developmental and environmental influences, and similar DNA sequences often produce slightly different outcomes. Our DNA influences who we are, but not in a linear or easily described manner. (See here for more.)

DNA contains basic information that, when combined with the appropriate organic structures (in the egg) and context (the mother's uterus), will facilitate the growth of a single cell (the combined sperm and egg) into a multibillion-cell person. Note that I say "facilitate," not "determine." The DNA is not the blueprint of life; rather, it contains many of the basic codes and signals for the development of an organism. At its core DNA contains the basic information needed to assemble molecules called "proteins," which are the building blocks of our bodies, and it also acts to regulate how and where different proteins are made and used.

Genes contain information, but the actual relationship between genes and our bodies and behavior is complicated. Chemical interactions inside our cells, interactions between cells, and developmental processes above the level of DNA occur throughout the life span. Most one-gene-to-one-trait analogies are unrealistic. For example, although your hands are composed of numerous proteins that emerge from information in your DNA, hands themselves are not the product of a "hand gene." Hands are the product of a developmental program in which DNA plays an important, but not exclusive, role.

Think of genes as having many types of relationships with traits. Single genes can affect single molecules, groups of genes may work together to produce effects, and one gene can even have many effects on a number of different traits and/or systems. Most genes have many of these patterns at the same time. In all cases the same gene can produce slightly different proteins in different individuals.

Multiple factors influence the development of an organism. These include chemical and physical patterns, internal and external influences, and physical constraints on shape and size, in addition to the information carried in the genes. To make things even more complex, starting with the successful joining of sperm and egg, epigenetic (outside the DNA) processes also affect development. Changes in temperature, fluctuating chemical environments, and mistakes in chemical cues in addition to variations in DNA produce slightly different outcomes.

There is little evidence to support any one-to-one relationship between genes and behavior. However, DNA does influence our physical structures (brain, eyes, mouth, hands, and so on), and because behavior is exhibited via these structures, all behavior has some genetic component.

For example, you are reading this blog using your eyes (optical tissue, muscles, nerves) and maybe your hands (muscle, bones, tendons) to scan the letters and words on the page. You are also using your brain (a set of neurons, vascular tissues, and various hormones that connects all the organs in your body and mediates among them) to process the meaning. All of these elements have a genetic component. However, you are reading the words, a behavior that must be taught to you, and you are reading them in English, something else that must be taught to you. Do reading and using the English language have a genetic component? Yes, the neurons, eyes, muscles, and other parts of the body used in reading are composed of molecules initially coded for by DNA. Are there genes for reading in English? No, the specific language that someone reads is an experiential factor, as languages are parts of cultural systems. Can aspects of our genetic complement impact our ability to acquire specific reading skills? Possibly. Structural differences in the eyes, motor connectivity, and even hormone pathways in the brain might impact the pace and pattern of reading acquisition.

There is a very complex set of relationships between our bodies and behavior on the one hand, and DNA, development, and environment on the other. This relationship is not linear, nor can it be easily described as a simple equation. We should not use simple models or labels such as "blueprints," "building blocks," or "code of life" to describe DNA and genes. Rather, the DNA is an integral component of life itself, and understanding the function of genetic material is critical to understanding evolution and the functioning of organisms. But an understanding of genetics is by no means the complete picture.

For a better understanding of these topics, have a look at these sources:

See the original post here:
Agustin Fuentes: DNA Is Not a Blueprint: How Genes Really Work

The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network Friday, Jun 08, 2012

The Tokyo High Court on Thursday decided to grant a retrial and stay of execution for a Nepalese man convicted of killing a female employee of Tokyo Electric Power Co. in 1997.

In the decision handed down to Govinda Prasad Mainali, 45, who is now serving a life sentence for the crime, presiding Judge Shoji Ogawa said, "Suspicion has arisen that another person might have murdered the woman and it is assumed a guilty ruling would not have been handed down if the results of this analysis had been presented in the trial."

The remarks were based on a fresh DNA analysis conducted for a high court hearing over a demand for a retrial.

The Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office lodged an objection to the high court's decision later Thursday. The appeal over the stay of execution was rejected, but the objection to the retrial is still under consideration.

The high public prosecutors office then decided to release Mainali.

Mainali, who was serving time at a Yokohama prison, was transferred to the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau's facility in Yokohama later in the day, as he was illegally staying in the country and procedures to deport him are expected to begin soon.

If the high court decision is finalized, Mainali's case would be the eighth retrial after World War II for a person sentenced to death or life in prison.

There will likely be criticism of the fact that DNA analysis of important evidence, which led to the high court's decision Thursday, was not conducted during the investigation or the trial.

On March 19, 1997, a 39-year-old managerial employee at TEPCO was found dead in an apartment in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo. Two months later, Mainali, who lived in a building adjacent to the apartment, was arrested. The guilty ruling finalized by the Supreme Court said Mainali strangled the woman at around midnight on March 8 and robbed her of about 40,000 in cash.

See the original post:
Nepalese man released from prison based on new DNA test results

Reds beat Detroit with walk-off bunt Reds beat Detroit with walk-off bunt

Updated: Friday, June 8 2012 10:41 PM EDT2012-06-09 02:41:30 GMT

Updated: Friday, June 8 2012 10:32 PM EDT2012-06-09 02:32:15 GMT

Updated: Friday, June 8 2012 9:39 PM EDT2012-06-09 01:39:08 GMT

Updated: Friday, June 8 2012 8:44 PM EDT2012-06-09 00:44:03 GMT

Updated: Friday, June 8 2012 7:53 PM EDT2012-06-08 23:53:31 GMT

DNA from a straw has led to an arrest in a robbery at an Over-the-Rhine bar.

Grammer's on Walnut Street was robbed on Aug. 6, 2011. Police say three suspects entered the bar and held employees at gunpoint and demanded money. The manager was then forced to destroy the computer the robbers believed to contain images of the robbery.

Police collected straws from vodka and cranberries that the suspects drank that night. The DNA from one of the straws led police to Shannon Darnell Howard, 25, of Dayton, OH.

A warrant was filed on April 26 for Howard's arrest. He was taken into custody on Thursday and booked in the Hamilton County Detention Center.

Read more here:
DNA from straw leads to arrest in robbery at OTR bar

LOS ANGELES -- Scientists have pieced together the entire DNA sequence of an 18-week-old fetus without having to use any invasive tests that could result in a miscarriage -- an advance that offers a glimpse of the future of prenatal testing.

Using blood drawn from the mother and a sample of saliva from the father, the researchers were able to scan the fetus' genome and determine whether it contained any of the myriad single-letter changes in the DNA code that can cause a genetic disorder.

They could even pinpoint which mutations were inherited from Mom, which came from Dad, and which were brand new.

If the technique is refined and the technology becomes inexpensive -- as many experts anticipate -- this type of prenatal testing could provide prospective parents with a simple, risk-free way to screen for a broad array of simple genetic disorders, according to the authors of a report in the Thursday, June 7, edition of Science Translational Medicine.

The work is based on the fact that small fragments of fetal DNA circulate in the blood of pregnant women.

Several biotech companies are developing tests that capture those DNA fragments and screen them for signs of Down syndrome and other disorders that result from having an extra copy of an entire chromosome.

But that type of screening is far easier than searching for single-letter variations in individual genes, said senior author Jay Shendure, a geneticist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

An

To set about their task, Shendure's team started by sequencing the genome of an anonymous pregnant woman, using a complete sample of her DNA obtained from her blood cells.

They also sequenced free-floating DNA fragments extracted from her blood plasma, repeating their work until they had decoded every part of the human genome 80 times.

Follow this link:
New, risk-free tests reveal full DNA of fetus by 18 weeks

MYSTERY: Police are working to identify remains uncovered at a Port Waikato beach.

Attempts to indentify a mystery skeleton found at Port Waikato have been stalled by failed DNA tests.

Scientists are trying to extract a DNA profile from the remains found on Sunset Beach last month to determine who on their list of 30 possible matches - women aged 15 to 25, who disappeared more than 10 years ago - it could be.

Samples have been taken from the bones and teeth of the skeleton but the officer in charge of the investigation said two had so far failed. Different methods of extraction are now being tried.

Detective Inspector Mark Gutry said they were no closer to identifying the woman.

"If the first [test] had worked we would've had it, or the second one, so we've just got to wait, really."

Scientists were struggling because the skeleton had been buried so long, but Gutry is confident they will get a DNA profile they can compare to those on file.

"Once we get that we'll match it with the ones we have and then if it's not there we'll have to do some more work around that but we're pretty confident that we've got what we need."

Some of the missing person DNA was directly from those people, while some was from family members.

"It's something we do as part of our missing persons process - to look at dental records and DNA records and collate them on the file so that if anything comes up we can match them."

See original here:
DNA struggle stalls skeleton mystery

Scientists have pieced together the entire DNA sequence of an 18-week-old fetus without having to use any invasive tests that could result in a miscarriage an advance that offers a glimpse of the future of prenatal testing.

Using blood drawn from the mother and a sample of saliva from the father, the researchers were able to scan the fetus' genome and determine whether it contained any of the myriad single-letter changes in the DNA code that can cause a genetic disorder. They could even pinpoint which mutations were inherited from Mom, which came from Dad, and which were brand-new.

If the technique is refined and the technology becomes inexpensive as many experts anticipate this type of prenatal testing could provide prospective parents with a simple, risk-free way to screen for a broad array of simple genetic disorders, according to the authors of a report in Thursday's edition of Science Translational Medicine.

The work is based on the fact that small fragments of fetal DNA circulate in the blood of pregnant women.

Several biotech companies are developing tests that capture those DNA fragments and screen them for signs of Down syndrome and other disorders that result from having an extra copy of an entire chromosome.

But that type of screening is far easier than searching for single-letter variations in individual genes, said senior author Jay Shendure, a geneticist at the University of Washington in Seattle.

An additional chromosome is "the equivalent of an extra chapter in a book," he said. "What we're trying to do is pick up a typo in a word."

To set about their task, Shendure's team started by sequencing the genome of an anonymous pregnant woman, using a complete sample of her DNA obtained from her blood cells. They also sequenced free-floating DNA fragments extracted from her blood plasma, repeating their work until they had decoded every part of the human genome 80 times.

That plasma contained a mix of 10% fetal DNA and 90% maternal DNA, all in tiny fragments. The scientists needed to be able to tell which pieces were from the mother and which belonged to the fetus.

To solve that problem, the scientists relied on the fact that genetic material is inherited in long strands of DNA, called chromosomes and that tiny genetic variations on the same chromosome are usually inherited together, in blocks known as haplotypes. If a given haplotype was present in the fetus as well as in the mother, it would be detected in the plasma in extra amounts.

Visit link:
Entire DNA of fetus revealed through risk-free testing

CARLSBAD, Calif., June 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- MO BIO Laboratories, Inc., the leader in soil, water and microbial nucleic acid purification, announces the launch of the PowerMag Soil and Microbial DNA Isolation Kits, for automated purification of DNA from soil, stool, microbial and food cultures using the epMotion and KingFisher automated processing systems.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120606/LA19375)

MO BIO's novel MagnaClear technology, included in the PowerMag Soil DNA Isolation Kit, enables automated purification of DNA from soil, stool and environmental samples without surface binding to the beads, eliminating the adsorption of organic inhibitors that is typical of other magnetic bead technologies, and facilitating isolation of pure DNA. The PowerMag Microbial DNA Isolation Kit contains unique MagnaSwift technology, developed for rapid, automated purification of inhibitor-free DNA from pure microbial cultures, food cultures and swabs. The PowerMag Soil and Microbial DNA Kits are the first magnetic bead-based purification kits to incorporate patented Inhibitor Removal Technology, which removes PCR-inhibiting compounds associated with soil, stool and food cultures, including humic substances, phenolics, lipids and polysaccharides.

The PowerMag Soil and Microbial DNA Isolation Kits are available now. For more information, visit the MO BIO website (www.mobio.com/powermag) or call 800-606-6246.

MO BIO Laboratories, Inc. (www.mobio.com) has developed innovative tools for researchers in molecular biology since 1993. A global leader in solutions for soil and microbial nucleic acid purification, MO BIO's Power kits contain patented Inhibitor Removal Technology for removal of PCR inhibiting substances during the nucleic acid purification procedure. For samples that do not require inhibitor removal, MO BIO's UltraClean line includes optimized products for DNA and RNA isolation from a variety of sample types. For clinical samples, the BiOstic kits provide solutions for higher yields and purity of nucleic acids. At MO BIO Laboratories, Inc., our focus is quality products that work, save time and function for all sample types, not just the easy ones. It is MO BIO's aim to make researchers' working lives more productive and efficient, creating time to focus on what is critical, not just in work, but in life.

More:
MO BIO Laboratories, Inc. Launches the PowerMag™ Soil and Microbial DNA Isolation Kits

CBSSports.com wire reports

WASHINGTON -- Wearing a blue floral print dress, Eileen McNamee presented herself as a soft-spoken first-grade schoolteacher who never nagged her now-estranged husband about Roger Clemens. She went on to contradict the government's key witness many times -- and even came up with a different brand of beer to associate with the crucial evidence in the perjury trial of the former pitcher.

On a day in which the judge lost his temper twice with Clemens' lawyers, the defense turned Wednesday to the soon-to-be-ex-wife of Brian McNamee. This was the woman who McNamee testified harangued him with the words "You're going to go down! You're going to go down! You're going to go down!" -- pestering him until he saved medical waste from an alleged steroids injection of Clemens so that he wouldn't be the fall guy in any sort of drugs investigation.

She says she never said anything of the sort. She said McNamee didn't tell her back then that he was injecting Clemens, and that she wasn't especially bothered by the extended time her husband spent away from home working with the seven-time Cy Young Award winner. Brian McNamee said the days apart had become a source of friction in the marriage.

"I probably complained once in a while," Eileen McNamee said. "But I did not fuss about it."

Clemens is charged with lying when he told Congress in 2008 that he never used steroids or human growth hormone. Brian McNamee is the only witness to claim firsthand knowledge of Clemens using those substances. He testified last month that he injected Clemens in 1998, 2000 and 2001 and saved the needle and other waste from a 2001 injection. He said he put some of it in a Miller Lite can to bring home because his wife was giving him a "hard time every single day."

In testimony that sometimes sounded more like divorce court than criminal court -- the couple are undergoing contentious divorce proceedings in New York -- Eileen McNamee spun a narrative that could give the jury more pause when evaluating Brian McNamee's credibility.

Among the other differences in their stories:

Brian McNamee testified that he showed his wife the needles and other waste from the injection as soon as he got home that night, and that she played a role in putting them -- along with the beer can -- in a FedEx box. Eileen McNamee said she wasn't even aware the box was in the house until shortly afterward, when she discovered it on a shelf in the basement during a time of flooding in the neighborhood.

Read more here:
Clemens expert claims DNA could have been contaminated

Researchers at the University of Washington have sequenced the entire genome of a fetus. The scientific advance could help detect certain diseases in the womb, but some experts worry that the trove of genetic information may prove more scary and overwhelming than useful.

Suspended in the blood of a pregnant woman along with some added information from a dad-to-bes saliva lurks enough fetal DNA to map out an unborn babys entire genetic blueprint.

It may sound like something conjured by Jules Verne, but it happened at the University of Washington: a professor and his graduate student used DNA samples from the parents of a baby boy who was still in utero and reconstructed his entire genetic makeup from A to Z.

The account, published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, takes prenatal testing to new heights, promising a motherlode of genetic information about a child who had not even been born along with a corresponding trove of data that even experts dont yet know how to interpret.

Jacob Kitzman, lead author and a graduate student in the department of genome sciences at the University of Washington (UW), was excited but cautious about his teams achievement. There have been a lot of steps toward this, but this is the first time capturing the whole genome, says Kitzman. The fact that this technology is now on the path to becoming clinically feasible is a good opportunity for a broader discussion of the implications.

Figuring out how to communicate the vast cache of information uncovered by genome sequencing remains controversial, since much of it still isnt clinically useful. But although researchers dont understand the significance of the entirety of the information revealed through whole-genome sequencing, they do know that certain genes are responsible for Mendelian, or more simple, single-gene disorders that includes more than 3,000 conditions such as cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease and some muscular dystrophies that affect 1% of pregnancies. Prenatal sequencing would allow parents to learn before delivery if their child has one of these diseases, many of which are debilitating or fatal. While genetic screening of parents before pregnancy can also identify carriers, and an increasing number of prenatal DNA-based tests can determine early in pregnancy whether developing babies have specific conditions such as Down syndrome, whole-genome sequencing is the most sophisticated way to examine a persons entire genetic code.

(MORE:Down Syndrome: With Breakthroughs in Testing, a Choice Becomes Tougher)

Prenatal genome sequencing could potentially replace more invasive procedures such as amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling to detect recessive Mendelian disorders on average, we all carry 20 to 30 recessive genes but it is not yet precise enough to take the place of these tests when looking for other chromosomal conditions. Nor is it a foolproof gauge of risk for many other complex diseases a category that includes most cancers and common conditions such as diabetes and heart disease because theyre influenced by multiple genes and environmental factors. Great, says Thomas Murray, president of the Hastings Center bioethics institute, we can sequence the genome of a fetus. What the hell does it tell us? Much less than most people probably believe.

Kitzman concurs. Its a really big challenge for the field, figuring out how to communicate to clinicians not only the results but the uncertainty that goes along with those results, he says. Theres no easy answer.

In this particular situation, Kitzman and Jay Shendure, an associate professor of genome sciences at UW, sidestepped the thorny issue of assessing disease risk and sharing that information with parents because the expectant couple was anonymous. Kitzman doesnt know their identity, only that they consented to have their biological samples used for genome sequencing. Their son was born healthy and full-term.

Visit link:
Decoding an Unborn Baby's DNA: A Cause for Alarm?

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire -06/05/12)- TriMarkPublications.com cites in its newly published "DNA Sequencing and PCR Markets" report that the next-generation DNA sequencing platforms market will more than double, reaching $3.2 billion by 2017. For more information, visit: http://www.trimarkpublications.com/products/DNA-Sequencing-and-PCR-Markets.html.

DNA sequencing has a number of applications, including: full-genome resequencing, targeted discovery of mutations or polymorphisms, mapping of structural rearrangements, large-scale analysis of DNA methylation, RNA-Seq and ChIP-Seq. The U.S. and Europe exhibit the highest market penetration for DNA sequencing, but other parts of the world are projected to see higher compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of up to 13%. As DNA sequencing platforms become increasingly affordable, the cost of sequencing a human genome will soon fall below the $1,000 price point.

The "DNA Sequencing and PCR Markets" report covers:

The "DNA Sequencing and PCR Markets" report examines companies manufacturing DNA sequencing and PCR equipment and supplies in the world. Companies covered include: Abbott, Affymetrix, Agilent, AgriGen, Avesthagen Gengraine, BD, BGI Life, bioMerieux, Bioneer, Bio-Rad, BioServe, Caliper LifeSciences, Cepheid, Cogenics, CombiMatrix, Commonwealthnologies, Complete, Comprehensive Biomarker, CuraGen, Cytocell, DiaDexus, DNA LandMarks, DNAVision, DNASTAR, ELITech, Enigma, Enzo Biochem, Eppendorf, Eurofins Medigenomix, Exiqon, FASMAC, GE Healthcare, GeneticTechnologies, GeneWorks, Genia, Genisphere, Genovoxx, Gen-Probeorporated, Genset, GnuBIOorporated, GVK, Helicos, High Throughput, Hokkaido, Hy, Illumina, Inqabanical Industries, IntegenX, Integrated DNA, Intelligent Biosystems, Kreatech, LaserGen, LI-COR, Life, Lucigen, Luminex, Meridian, Microsynth, MilleGen SA, MWG, NanoString, NobleGen, Orchid Cellmark, Oxford Nanopore, Pacific, PamGene, PPD, PrimmBiotech, Promega, QIAGEN, RainDance, Research Biolabs, Roche, Rubicon, Saturn, SeeGene, Sequenom, Sequetech, SeqWright, Shanghai Sangon, Shimadzu, Siemens, SolGent, Stratos, TATAA Biocenter, Thermo Fisher, Third Wave, Wellcome Trust Sanger, ZS Genetics and ZyGEM.

Detailed charts with sales forecasts and marketshare data are included. For more information, visit: http://www.trimarkpublications.com/products/DNA-Sequencing-and-PCR-Markets.html.

About TriMarkPublications.com

TriMarkPublications.com is a global leader in the biotechnology, healthcare and life sciences market research publishing. For more information, please visit http://www.trimarkpublications.com.

Important Notice

The statements contained in this news release that are forward-looking are based on current expectations that are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially.

More here:
Next-Generation DNA Sequencing Platforms Market to More Than Double to $3.2 Billion by 2017

LEAMINGTON SPA, England, June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- DNA Dynamics, Inc. (OTC Pink: DNAD), a global developer and publisher of mobile video games and applications, today announced that theStockRadio.com has posted an audio interview recently conducted withCOO David Lovatt at the Wall Street 1-2-1 Spring 2012 event, held in Orlando, Florida on May 8-11, 2012.

To access the interview, please go to http://thestockradio.com/david-lovatt-chief-operating-officer-of-dna-dynamics-otcdnad/1009.

theStockRadio.com is a small-cap research and investment commentary provider. theStockRadio.com strives to provide a balanced view of many promising small-cap companies that would otherwise fall under the radar of the typical Wall Street investor. Moreover, theStockRadio.com provides investors with an excellent first step in their research and due diligence by providing daily trading ideas, and consolidating the public information available on them. For more information on theStockRadio.com, please visit http://thestockradio.com.

theStockRadio.com DisclosuretheStockRadio.com is not a registered investment advisor and nothing contained in any materials should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. theStockRadio.com is a Web site wholly owned by Allan James Group. Neither theStockRadio.com nor its affiliates have a beneficial interest in the mentioned company; nor have they received compensation of any kind for any of the companies listed in this communication. Please read our report and visit our Web site, theStockRadio.com, for complete risks and disclosures. To contact theStockRadio.com, please send an email to info@theStockRadio.com.

About DNA Dynamics, Inc.Headquartered in Leamington Spa in the United Kingdom, DNA Dynamics is a worldwide developer and publisher of graphically rich, highly experiential interactive entertainment currently delivered on iOS, Android, Nintendo DS and Sony PSP platforms. Through its operating subsidiaries, DNA Studios and DNA Interactive, the Company has created, acquired or licensed a portfolio of highly recognizable or emerging brands that broadly appeal to its consumer demographics, ranging from children to adults and casual gamers to serious enthusiasts. For more information, please go to http://www.dnadynamics.net.You can also follow the Company on Facebook and Twitter.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Elite Financial Communications Group, LLC

Dodi Handy, President and CEO (Twitter:dodihandy)

For Media: Kathy Addison, COO (Twitter:kathyaddison)

Read more:
DNA Dynamics' COO Dave Lovatt Featured On theStockRadio.com

Our research suggests that the overwhelming majority of police forces are unable to separate the records of people never charged from those found guilty in court."

Since 2004, police forces have been allowed to take the DNA or fingerprints of anyone aged over 10 who was arrested for a recordable offence, which means most crimes.

The national DNA database grew to include details of several million people over the next few years, and was credited with leading to convictions as samples taken from crime scenes were linked to people arrested for unrelated offences.

In 2008 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that keeping the records indefinitely was unlawful, prompting the Labour government to review the policy.

After the election, the Coalition promised to improve the system by making it more like that of Scotland, where only the DNA of those convicted of serious offences, such as violence or sex crimes, is held and for a maximum of five years.

But it then emerged that ministers only planned to anonymise the records rather than deleting them completely, and did not introduce a safeguard that would mean a judges approval was needed to keep the files.

The Protection of Freedoms Act passed last month also allows biometric material from innocent people to be kept for up if it is deemed to be in the interests of national security.

Big Brother Watch claims it is not clear how citizens can have their profiles removed from the database, and that in the absence of detailed plans or a timetable from the Home Office, police forces are continuing to add to it.

Figures show there are now some 6.4m profiles on the database.

Records obtained through Freedom of Information requests by Big Brother Watch suggest that 986,767 samples of DNA were gathered between January 2009 and December 2011.

Continue reading here:
DNA of thousands of innocent people still being collected by police

Scientists havesuccessfullycreated a pair of DNA nucleobases, which, likeadenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine in natural DNA, can copy themselves nearly as well as the real thing.

The language of life is about to expand its vocabulary. An international team of researchers discovered that the body's copying machine for DNA works in the same way for manmade, artificial building blocks of DNA as it does for the natural kind.

If scientists find artificial DNA building blocks work well and are safe to use, the extra building materials could create DNA that codes for new molecules that the body can't make now. The artificial DNA could also form the basis of a partlysynthetic organism.

The DNA code in living things is made of four different molecules, called bases, that are nicknamed A, T, C and G. In a double row of DNA, the bases always link up to each other in a specific way, with A's matching with T's and C's matching with G's. In 2008, a team of researchers created a third, artificial pair of DNA molecules made to match with each other, named NaM and 5SICS. In this new study, some of the same researchers used a technique calledX-ray crystallographyto take pictures of A, T, C, G, NaM and 5SICS while they were getting copied in a test tube.

DNA is an important bodily process that happens often, so that cells can pass their genetic information on to new cells that are created all the time, such as skin or blood cells that develop to replace old, worn-out cells.

After NaM and 5SICS were made, several other groups of researchers found that a natural strand of DNA with NaM and 5SICS added to it will still copy itself nearly as well as all-natural DNA. Scientists didn't know why it worked so well. They worried they had somehow "tricked" the body's DNA copying machine, called DNA polymerase, said Floyd Romesberg, a chemist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. Romesberg was one of the principal inventors of NaM and 5SICS and was involved inthis new study, published online yesterday (June 3) in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

The natural base pairs A, C, G and T have specific shapes and line up neatly with each other along their edges when they're inside a DNA helix. Scientists believe their shape and neat fit are important for DNA polymerase to work properly. On the other hand, NaM and 5SICS aren't shaped anything like the natural bases. They don't use the same chemical bonds as natural bases do and they don't line up edge-to-edge. [Move Over, DNA, and Meet the More Durable XNA]

The rest is here:
Scientists create artificial DNA molecule