Theres more to your DNA than your DNA. We are now becoming aware of the epigenome. While DNA controls you, your epigenome may help control your DNA, or rather, it can have an extensive impact on how your DNA is expressed. The epigenome consists of changes in the structure of your DNA, how it is packaged, what parts of it are available for expression into RNA and proteins. For example, adding methyls to DNA tends to decrease the gene expression of that DNA segment, while taking away methyl groups increases it. The cool thing about epigenetics is that the methylation can vary from tissue to tissue, controlling how different genes are expressed in say, liver vs spleen.

(I cant wait til Jonathan Coulton writes a song about the epigenome)

One of the most interesting things about the epigenome is that you can pass it along in the germline. To your kids. So in theory, if you had methylation in certain parts of your genome, your kids could as well. But were starting to realize that epigenetics is more malleable than that.

Take muscle tissue for instance. Gene expression in muscle tissue can change the efficiency of glucose metabolism by muscle. And glucose metabolism has a very large effect on many bodily processes, include weight gain and problems like cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes. Muscle itself is very plastic, and responds quickly to changes in the environment (which for a muscle, means increases and decreases in exercise or how many calories are getting in). We know that exercise can change gene expression in muscle, but can it also change the epigenome? While immediate changes in gene expression can be very short, changes to the epigenome indicate much longer-term changes. Could bouts of exercise influence the methylation of muscle, and thus have long-term effects?

Barres et al. Acute Exercise Remodels Promoter Methylation in Human Skeletal Muscle Cell Metabolism, 2012.

The cool thing is that the authors of this study were able to do large sections of this study in humans. Humans, at least, who did not object to getting muscle biopsies.

They took 14 sedentary humans and had them exercise to fatigue (a pretty difficult exercise bout). They biopsied the muscles before and after the exercise, and looked to see what the methylation in the muscle looked like.

What you can see here is that the acute bout of exercise decreased the methylation in the muscle tissue. When they looked a little closer, the authors found that the methylation was particularly decreased in the promotor regions of metabolically related genes. Many of these promotor regions, which directly control the expression of a gene, show changes in methylation during type II diabetes. After exercise the methylation in these promotor regions was decreased, which could result in more gene expression of those genes, and thus result in changes in metabolism.

Further studies showed that this change in methylation depended on exercise intensity. In a group of mice exposed to low or high intensity exercise, only the high intensity produced the gene methylation changes seen in humans.

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Methylating Your Muscle DNA

A Virginia budget amendment lifting some of the secrecy surrounding the state's post-conviction DNA project was prompted by the tale of a cancer victim who was recently cleared of a 34-year-old rape.

Articles in the Richmond Times-Dispatch this year outlined the case of Bennett S. Barbour, convicted of a 1978 assault in Williamsburg. Testing failed to find his DNA in old evidence and instead implicated a convicted rapist in the crime.

Police and prosecutors had the test results since June 2010, but Barbour, 56, who lives in James City County near Williamsburg, did not find out until this January, when a volunteer lawyer contacted him. That delay prompted concern among some legislators.

"I asked for the budget amendment totally based on (The Times-Dispatch's) article about Barbour and what happened," said state Sen. Janet Howell, D-Fairfax, vice chairman of the Virginia State Crime Commission.

State Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr., R-James City, also read about Barbour's case. "If there was any reasonable way to either eliminate or at least minimize miscarriages of justice, then I was prepared to be an advocate for it," he said.

"I appreciate the balancing and the concerns of forensic scientists and prosecutors about certain identifying information," he said. But Norment, who helped craft the amendment, said the scales tipped heavily toward more disclosure.

It isn't the first time legislators, concerned with the now-7-year-old effort to clear people wrongly convicted decades ago with DNA testing, have used a budget amendment to order changes in the Department of Forensic Science post-conviction project.

The project began in 2005 after DNA testing of old biological evidence in 31 sample cases cleared two men of rapes. The evidence, primarily blood and semen, was taped inside the case files of forensic serologists from 1973 to 1988.

Since then, testing in hundreds of cases resulted in 78 in which the convicted person's DNA was not found. In the cases of Barbour and at least four others whose DNA was excluded, the results demonstrated innocence.

Initially, the state Board of Forensic Science, which oversees the department, said only prosecutors and police were to learn the test results and that it would be up to authorities to decide the significance of the testing and to take any action.

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Convict's story prompted Virginia budget amendment on DNA

Public release date: 10-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Hannah Isom press.office@headoffice.mrc.ac.uk 44-207-395-2345 University of Edinburgh

Scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine (IGMM) at the University of Edinburgh have discovered an enzyme that corrects the most common mistake in mammalian DNA.

The mistake is the inclusion of individual bits of RNA within the DNA sequence, which the researchers found occurs more than a million times in each cell as it divides. The findings, published in Cell, suggest the RNase H2 enzyme is central to an important DNA repair mechanism necessary to protect the human genome.

Each time a cell divides it must first make an identical copy of its entire genetic material, known as the genome. During this process, which is called DNA replication, the integrity of the genetic code is safeguarded by cellular 'proofreading' and error checking mechanisms.

But sometimes mistakes creep into the genetic code, which if not corrected could lead to genetic disease or cancer. Accidental incorporation of RNA is one such mistake. The individual building blocks of RNA (ribonucleotides) are very similar to those that make up DNA, however, they are much less stable and if they remain incorporated in DNA they cause harmful breaks in the double helix. Such breaks are common in cancer cells.

The researchers made the discovery while working on a rare childhood auto-immune disease known as Aicardi-Goutires syndrome, which is caused by mutations in the RNase H2 genes. It leads to inflammation of the brain soon after birth and can be fatal within the first few years of life.

To study this condition in more detail, the scientists knocked out one of the RNase H2 genes in mice. They found that without the enzyme, the developing mouse embryos accumulated more than 1,000,000 single embedded bits of RNA in the genome of every cell, resulting in instability of their DNA.

Dr Andrew Jackson from the MRC IGMM at the University of Edinburgh, who led the research, said:

"The most amazing thing is that by working to understand a rare genetic disease, we've uncovered the most common fault in DNA replication by far, which we didn't even start out looking for! More surprising still is that a single enzyme is so crucial to repairing over a million faults in the DNA of each cell, to protect the integrity of our entire genetic code.

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Enzyme corrects more than 1 million faults in DNA replication

HOLLADAY, Utah Doralee Freebairn remembers the day well. It was September 1961. Her older brother was on a Boy Scouts trip, hiking in the canyons of Zion National Park.

She was in the yard at home in Salt Lake City watering plants when news crackled over the radio. There had been a massive flash flood in the Narrows.

"I thought, 'Oh, that's where Alvin is,'" Freebairn recalled Friday. "Then it just turned into a nightmare."

Five people were swept away and presumed dead, but searchers never found the bodies of Freebairn's then 17-year-old older brother, Alvin Nelson, or his best friend, Frank Johnson.

This week, some 51 years later, Freebairn finally got the news she had been waiting for.

Authorities matched DNA to a skull fragment found by a man swimming in the Virgin River in 2006. It was Alvin.

"It's kind of a nice birthday present," said Freebairn, who turned 66 last month. "But after so many years, it really doesn't bring closure. It's been a long time."

She sat in her home outside Salt Lake City on Friday flipping through old newspaper clippings about the search for bodies back then. She smiled and told stories about Alvin as she looked at graying photos from an album she pulled from a box in the closet.

"I'll tell you, not finding a body was rough," Freebairn said.

Her father left the family when they were young. It was just her mother and Alvin, the man of the house.

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DNA links skull fragment to Utah Boy Scout missing since 1961 flood; teen's body never found

A mathematical model created by Aalto University (Finland) researcher Timo Ikonen explains for the first time how the DNA chains in our genome are translocated through nanopores that are only a couple of nanometres thick.

A research paper soon to be published in Physical Review E explains the basic physics related to the phenomenon referred to as polymer translocation. Exploring this phenomenon could help to create third generation genome sequencing technologies.

With the help of these technologies, sequencing a patient's genome could become a routine health care procedure.

Full genome sequencing is one of the major accomplishments of humankind. The method for sequencing the millions of base pairs that make up the human DNA molecule chain was revealed in the 1970s, but the entire human genome was not sequenced until 2001.

Sequencing the first human genome cost almost 3 billion dollars. The analysis is still extremely laborious: sequencing the genome of one person costs over 10,000 dollars.

The translocation phenomenon examined by Ikonen enables researchers to use a much simpler method for determining the base sequence of genes. As early as in the 1990s, researchers discovered that when a DNA chain is forced through a small nanopore with the help of an electric current, different types of bases can be identified by monitoring the changes occurring in the current.

Experimental physicists hurried to find out whether the phenomenon could be applied to determining the base sequence of a genome. A small number of theorists began exploring what happened during the actual translocation process. The first translocation theory was presented by Professor Sung's group in 1996. Sung is now Ikonen's research partner.

The first DNA sequencer based on translocation will soon be on the market, but the theory itself has been controversial. Tests have revealed that when an electric current is used to drive a DNA chain through a pore that is only a couple of nanometres thick, the first monomers of the chain go through the pore very rapidly. Then the process slows down, but later on it speeds up again.

"The million dollar question has been why this happens," researcher Timo Ikonen says.

In his article, Ikonen presents a mathematical model that explains the events of the translocation process. The researcher compares the DNA chain to a garden hose curled up on the ground.

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DNA tug of war

STONY BROOK, NY--(Marketwire -05/10/12)- Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (OTC.BB: APDN) announces that it has launched a new, DNA-secured form of the QR ("quick read") code. digitalDNA is a new security tool that utilizes the flexibility of mobile communications, the instant accessibility of secure, cloud-based data, and the absolute certainty of DNA to make item tracking and authentication fast, easy and definitive, while providing the opportunity to create a new and exciting customer interface.

The product uses forensic authentication of a botanical DNA marker, sequence-encrypted within a secure QR code, and physically included within the ink used to digitally print the code. The resulting pattern or "rune" can be scanned via an Apple-approved app with an iPhone to assure originality. These mobile scans can be performed anywhere along the supply chain without limit.

The scan checks in wirelessly with a secure database in a "private, secure cloud," and displays the resulting analysis back on the iPhone screen. Tracking information is fed into "tunable algorithms" that use pattern recognition to automatically identify supply-chain risks, for counterfeits or product diversion. Rapid-reading reporters, associated with the DNA marker, are also embedded in the ink, and prevent the secure code from being digitally copied. The uncopyable, botanically-derived DNA markers included in all digitalDNA codes serve as a forensic backstop in legal cases where absolute proof of originality is required. Forensic authentication of the DNA in the ink, must match the sequences and length polymorphism found in the decrypted digitalDNA code.

The technology avoids the risks of phishing scams to which non-secure QR codes are notoriously vulnerable, while providing authentication, geolocation and time-stamping throughout the supply chain. The ubiquity of the iPhone platform allows the consumer to participate in the authentication scheme, quickly and easily. In addition, end-users could confirm freshness and expiration, connect to real-time or video technical support, identify local resources, easily place reorders, and participate in peer-to-peer selling.

The digitalDNA platform is designed to meet compliance specifications defined by the PCI (Payment Card Industry) Security Standards Council, the new and strict standards developed for handling credit card transactions, and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), the stringent requirements for protecting personal health information.

The technology evolved from a partnership agreement signed with secure cloud-computing specialist DivineRune, Inc, on January 25th of this year. The partnership will enhance and extend APDN's core anti-counterfeiting, anti-diversion, and security systems into the digital track-and-trace sphere. The companies jointly described the agreement as "taking APDN's best-in-class anti-counterfeiting and authentication systems and marrying them to the best in secure mobile applications and advanced cloud computing."

Dr. James A. Hayward, President and CEO of APDN, commented that he sees "a terrific synergy" in the partnership with DivineRune, whose name derives from a reference to symbology typified by the rise in applications of QR codes. "Our products today uniquely offer our customers proven, uncopyable authentication of virtually any product or asset," he said. "We are now ready to leverage the expertise of DivineRune to offer enhanced authentication systems which are faster, even more accessible and innovative. I believe that you will see some truly imaginative technology emerging from this partnership."

The DivineRune management team specializes in highly secured IT systems for companies looking to send and store information in "private clouds." They boast a track record of success in building computing systems that operate in the most challenging environments. "These are areas which are in need of the highest security available, including advanced encryption of data in transit and at rest," explained John Paul Pennisi, Product Manager at DivineRune. "Without doubt, this partnership will reap the benefits of our core competencies in cloud computing, mobile devices, and logistics," he said.

digitalDNA can be used to track individually packaged items, such as drugs or luxury goods, when the space on the item is available to print the digitalDNA matrix. On items too small for the matrix, such as microchips, digitalDNA can be used on lot shipments.

The combined DNA-IT platform will also aim to satisfy requirements of the California E-Pedigree Law (SB 1307 (Ridley-Thomas, Chapter 713, Statutes of 2008), which requires an electronic record of every sale of prescription drugs in the state. The pedigree must thoroughly document the drug, including its source, identification, and other data. Some features of the law require compliance as early as 2015. The California law is said by many to have wide repercussions for the pharmaceutical industry globally.

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Applied DNA Sciences Launches digitalDNA, Converging Bio and IT Technologies

07-05-2012 11:03 3 Inches of Blood - Ash Pearson - Dark Messenger/By-Tor & The Snow Dog - DNA Lounge San Francisco

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3 Inches of Blood - Ash Pearson - Dark Messenger/By-Tor

07-05-2012 17:18 What Do You Feed Your Mind? Get Into The Word Of God. The Holy Spirit Will Guide You.

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Iran Turning US Mosques Into Command Centers. DNA Proves Jews Are A Race. - Video

THE limits of DNA analysis will be tested by a trial involving a 20-year-old rape, a deceased victim, a nomadic man and his unco-operative brother.

The District Court has heard the case against Peter Tasman Cannell centres on DNA found at the 1993 rape of a woman, 81.

Prosecutors claim there is a 600-billion-to-1 chance of anyone other than Cannell being the rapist - but they cannot exclude his brother, who has refused to provide a DNA sample.

Cannell, 41, of Victoria, has pleaded not guilty to one count each of rape and burglary.

Opening the trial yesterday, prosecutor Sandi McDonald said the charges related to an incident in Wright St, Adelaide, in October 1993.

She said the rapist unlocked the victim's door after tearing through a flyscreen and subjected her to a "traumatic" rape.

"(The victim) was later taken to hospital and remained there for about six weeks," she said.

"She sustained injuries in so many areas that it may be easier to talk about the areas that were not bruised."

The victim died of natural causes in July 1997.

Ms McDonald said police records would prove Cannell - who moves between NT, WA and Queensland - was in Adelaide at the time of the rape.

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Rape case to test limits of DNA

FLINT, Mich. A prosecutor told jurors Tuesday that blood stains, DNA and testimony from survivors would provide enough evidence for a conviction in the first murder trial from a 2010 Michigan stabbing spree that left more than a dozen victims bleeding in Flint-area streets.

Elias Abuelazam has been in custody since he was captured at an Atlanta airport two summers ago while trying to flee to Israel, his native country. Inside his luggage and an SUV, police said they found dried blood and DNA from Arnold Minor, a 49-year-old man stabbed while walking alone after midnight.

Abuelazam "lured him close and brutally stabbed him to death, leaving him to die in a puddle of blood in a gutter on Saginaw Street," Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said in his opening remarks.

Minor was killed in August 2010, the last victim of a Flint-area stabbing streak that began a few months earlier. Abuelazam is charged with three murders and six attempted murders in Genesee County, although as many as 14 people were attacked that summer and six died.

Abuelazam, 35, is a permanent U.S. resident. Wearing a suit and tie and wire-rimmed glasses, he occasionally spoke in Arabic to defense attorney Ed Zeineh and was closely watched by three sheriff's officers while also wearing an electronic device under his pants that could zap him in case of any disturbance.

The murder case centers on Minor's death, but prosecutors are allowed to show evidence of a pattern of stabbings. Leyton told jurors that another victim's DNA also was in dried blood in Abuelazam's luggage. Some people who survived attacks are expected to testify and point to Abuelazam as the man who asked for directions or help with his SUV before plunging a knife into them.

Minor was walking when he was stabbed just south of downtown Flint. Officers who responded could only get him to say that his attacker was white, Leyton said.

"It wasn't the only clue," the prosecutor said. "He left behind something more powerful than words. He left behind his own blood. ... As he laid there in the street, soon to meet his maker, he left behind a powerful road map for investigators."

Abuelazam's attorney, Brian Morley, said he would reserve his opening statement until prosecutors rest their case. At that time, he'll reveal whether he'll offer an insanity defense.

After the prosecutor's remarks, only a handful of people watched the trial, mostly Minor's relatives. His mother, Elzora Minor, held her son's cremated remains in a box. Flint police Officer Todd Pillsbury testified that he was with Minor when an emergency medical crew arrived.

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Prosecutor: DNA 'more powerful than words' in 1st murder trial from 2010 Mich. stabbing spree

Understanding the creation of new genes is a primary objective in the study of genetics. There are numerous ways by which such creation can occur, but most depend on genes that are already present. In most cases, the DNA of a parent gene is copied to produce a daughter gene. Over time the daughter can evolve and may develop new functions. Another, albeit very rare, type of gene creation was not discovered until relatively recently. In this process, known as de novo gene formation, the source of the material for the new gene is not copied from another location. Instead, a previously functionless region of DNA becomes a new gene as the result of a few mutations.

The concept may be easier to grasp through the use of an analogy. Think of the human body as a machine and the bodys DNA as an instruction manual on how to build and control the machine. The sentences in this hypothetical manual represent separate genes with some machine processes described in a single sentence, while others may require several. There is a copy of this manual in almost every cell of the human body and the entire manual has to be replicated every time a new cell is produced, a process that is not immune to the occasional error. These errors, known as mutations, can affect genes to varying degrees. Some have no impact, while others may seriously disrupt a genes function. Some mutations can increase an individuals chance of survival or reproduction, and may be passed on to future generations.

Strictly speaking, genes are not arranged as conveniently as the sentences in a book. Some overlap, but most are separated by stretches of seemingly useless non-coding (junk) DNA. In keeping with the above analogy, junk DNA can be thought of as nonsensical strings of letters. De novo genes are created by mutations in this junk DNA, resulting in understandable sentences appearing in the place of random letters. The existence of de novo genes has led to debates within the scientific community, and has only recently begun to gain widespread acceptance. Their rarity has allowed them to remain elusive.

Aside from the need for the occurrence of a few mutations to produce a readable gene, the de novo gene must also be present in a cell that will give rise to the next generation; in mammals these are the sperm and egg cells. For a gene to function it must be processed by some machinery; this process is facilitated by nearby regions called promoters. Once a gene is expressed, its effect on the organism will determine whether or not it survives; a de novo gene that is disadvantageous will not survive. One that does survive, however, may remain in the gene pool and, over time, it may even evolve an important role.

So far, examples of de novo genes have only been reported in a handful of species, including yeast, fruit flies, and humans. In almost all cases, they seem to be very small and overlap with, or occur very close to, other genes. This tendency to be found in the vicinity of other genes is hardly surprising considering the requirement for an associated promoter. A novel promoter appearing at the same time as a new gene is thought to be extremely unlikely; therefore, de novo genes are far more likely to hijack the promoters of nearby genes in order to be expressed.

In our study we set out to find such genes in mice. In many ways this is potentially more informative than finding them in humans. The disadvantage of human studies is that the functions of the genes cannot be tested within a live organism, as it is morally abhorrent and legally forbidden to manipulate human DNA in such a fashion. In mice, however, tests in which selected genes are silenced or removed, revealing the genes functions and importance, are possible.

There is a large amount of genetic information on an array of different organisms in several on-line databases. Using those resources we obtained a list of genes in mice that are not found in any other species. We examined seventy possible de novo genes, but only eleven provided enough evidence to suggest that they are being expressed. In keeping with the aforementioned characteristics of de novo genes, all eleven are small and eight overlap with other genes. By comparing the DNA sequences of these genes with those in rat, guinea pig, and human we were able to determine the specific mutations that allowed the regions of non-coding DNA to become de novo genes.

Although these are not the first de novo genes to be found, they are among the first that can be manipulated and examined in a live mammal, the mouse. De novo genes seem to be far more common than was initially thought and it is expected that more will be discovered in the near future. They are likely to exist across all species of animals and plants, and throughout all stages of evolution. The fact that each de novo gene is, by definition, completely unique to a species could mean they have had vital roles in speciation. Future discoveries are likely to tell us a great deal more about the forces driving evolution.

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Something from nothing: Novel genes from existing, non-coding DNA

San Marcos Police say DNA linked a Buda man to the attack of a woman that occurred in February 2011.

San Marcos Detectives serves warrants on James Robert Montoya on charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault stemming from an attack in Sam Marcos on Feb. 8, 2011.

According to Police, Montoya was already being held at the Travis County Corrections center on a separate aggravated kidnapping and sexual assault charges committed on March 17, 2012. They say his arrest led to his identification as the suspect in the San Marcos case.

Police say he attacked a woman who had car trouble on I-35 near the Blanco River exit. He offered to drive her to the convenience store, but instead drove under the highway bridge near the river.

The victim attempted to escape but was attacked and taken back to Montoyas vehicle where he allegedly sexually assaulted. She was released and Montoya drove away, according to Police.

The victim called 911 and San Marcos Police arrived on scene. They recovered evidence and were able to enter the suspects DNA into the data base.

On May 4, San Marcos Police Department Criminal Investigation Division was informed of a match on the suspect's DNA profile to the Austin and Buda cases.

"The efforts of the Austin Police Department Sex Crimes Unit and Crime Laboratory, the Buda Police Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory led to the identification of Montoya in the San Marcos case," Dunn said. "We are extremely pleased to have received the news of a DNA match and relieved with the arrest of this dangerous offender."

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DNA Links Buda Man to 2011 Attack

People News

May 4, 2012, 4:02 GMT

DNA of Jennifer Hudson family murder suspect absent

The DNA of the man accused of killing Jennifer Hudson's family was not found on the offending weapon.

Illinois State Police forensic scientist Pauline Gordon said she tested the gun and found an inadequate measure of DNA belonging to a man.

She also stated that it excluded main suspect William Balfour.

However, Pauline added that reasons for the DNA not being present would include if the killer wiped the weapon clean or wore gloves, a Chicago court heard.

The SUV vehicle which Jennifer's perished brother Jason owned and which her nephew, Julian King, was found dead in was also tested.

She told the court she took swabs from door handles, the rearview mirror, gear shift and other areas someone might have touched.

Her colleague Robert Berk testified that he found gunshot residue on the ceiling above the rear seat of Jason's car and on a steering wheel cover in Balfour's vehicle.

Originally posted here:
No DNA found from Jennifer Hudson family murder suspect

Maryland officials have set the stage for an appeal to the Supreme Court to revive their legal right to collect DNA samples from individuals who have been arrested, but not yet convicted of a crime if the stateshighest court cannot be persuaded to reconsider its partial ban on that procedure. The issue has divided lower federal and state courts, and the case of King v. Maryland would appear to pose the issue in a simple and direct way a rape conviction would fall, and getting a guilty verdictat a new trial could be in considerable doubt.

The ruling last month by the Maryland Court of Appeals, the states supreme court, is here. The state attorney generals motion to reconsider, indicating plans to go on to the Supreme Court if necessary, can be read here. State Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler asked the state court at least to put its ruling on hold until after it could be tested in the Supreme Court.

Marylands DNA sampling law was originally passed in 1994, but was extended in 2008 to require sampling of those arrested and not yet convicted. The federal government and 25 of the 50 states have similar laws, and disputes over their constitutionality have arisen across the country. The Supreme Court on March 19 refused to hear a case involving a challenge to a DNA sample taken from a Pennsylvania man (Mitchell v. United States, docket 11-7603), but the sample was not used in that case to identify the individual as the perpetrator of a different crime.

Among the constitutional issues that have arisen over such DNA sampling laws, these are some of the most significant:

** What level of privacy do arrested individuals have, compared to those actually found guilty of crimes?

** How intrusive is a DNA sample, both in terms of the physical procedure of swabbing inside the mouth, and in terms of the amount of private information gathered by such a swab?

** Do constitutional limits on it apply both to the original swabbing, and also to the later interpretation of the personal markers found?

** For constitutional purposes, is using the DNA result to tie an individual to other crimes simply another form of identification, or is it a form of investigation of another crime? (In other words, cansuch a sample be used constitutionallyonly if it helps identify that arrested individualas the person the police want for that particular crime, or can it also be used validly to link that individual to other crimes, such as unsolved offenses (cold cases)?

** Is the constitutional equation different if a sampling law puts strict limits on what information from a sample may be used by prosecutors? (In other words, is there no constitutional problem if the sample reveals only what are called junk factors that really do not tell much about an individuals biological profile?)

** And, if such a sampling procedure is invalid in some particular factual situations, may it remain on the books for other situations? (In other words, shouldsuch a law be struck down as written that is, facially or only as applied to specific scenarios?)

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DNA sampling case develops

Rex Features / Erik Pendzich/Rex/Rex Features

Illinois State Police forensic scientist Pauline Gordon said she tested the gun and found an inadequate measure of DNA belonging to a man who was not a match for main suspect William Balfour, The AP reports.

However, Gordon also told the court in Chicago that that a DNA sample may not be present if the killer had wiped the weapon clean, or had worn gloves.

The SUV vehicle which Jennifer's brother Jason owned and which her nephew, Julian King, was found dead in was also tested by Gordon, who explained that she took swabs from door handles, the rearview mirror, gear shift and other areas of the car.

> Jennifer Hudson breaks down in tears in family murder trial

Gordon also tested other objects, but said that she found nothing matching the murder suspect's DNA.

Her colleague Robert Berk testified that he found gunshot residue on the ceiling above the rear seat of Jason Hudson's car, and on a steering wheel cover in Balfour's vehicle.

Berk added that the residue on the steering wheel cover correlated with someone firing a gun, before driving the car.

Balfour faces three counts of first-degree murder relating to Jennifer's mother Darnell Hudson Donerson, Jason and Julian in October 2008.

He is also accused of home invasion, aggravated kidnapping, residential burglary and possession of a stolen motor vehicle and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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Jennifer Hudson family murder suspect DNA not on weapon, court hears

ScienceDaily (May 3, 2012) Scientists from the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology have discovered a key element in the mechanism of DNA repair. When the DNA double helix breaks, the broken end goes searching for the similar sequence and uses that as a template for repair. Using a smart new dual-molecule technique, the Delft group has now found out how the DNA molecule is able to perform this search and recognition process in such an efficient way.

This week, the researchers report their findings in Molecular Cell.

A staggering problem

Sometimes, the DNA double helix gets broken: both strands are accidentally cut. This presents a vital problem because cells cannot cope with such damaged DNA. Genomic DNA instabilities such as these, are a known cause of cancer. The good news is that an intricate DNA repair system exists which is impressively error-proof and efficient. How does this work?

First, proteins form a filamentous structure on the broken DNA end. Second, this filament examines recently copied DNA or the second DNA chromosome (remember that we have two copies of each chromosome) in search of a DNA sequence that matches that of the broken end. Note that this is a daunting task: given that, for example, our human genome contains three billion base pairs, finding your few hundred base pairs of interest, is really like finding a needle in a haystack.

'Still this search process occurs within minutes and with great efficiency. How that is achieved, has been a mystery for decades. The new experiments from our group now resolve this by revealing the key step in the process, the molecular recognition step', says scientist Iwijn de Vlaminck, who was the postdoc that did the experiments in the group of prof. Cees Dekker at Delft.

Search operation

'In bacteria, the so-called RecA protein is responsible for conducting the search operation. In E. coli bacteria, a filament of RecA protein formed on DNA, searches and pairs a sequence within a second DNA molecule with remarkable speed and fidelity. To do so, individual molecules of RecA first come together to form a filamentous structure on the broken DNA. The filament then grabs DNA molecules in its vicinity and compares their sequence to the sequence of the broken DNA. When a sequence match is found, both molecules bind tightly to one another allowing repair to ensue', says De Vlaminck (since recently at Stanford University).

'We found that the filament's secondary DNA-binding site interacts with a single strand of the incoming double-stranded DNA during homology sampling. Recognition is achieved upon binding of both strands of the incoming DNA to each of two DNA-binding sites in the filament.'

The data indicate that the fidelity of the search process is governed by the distance between the DNA binding sites. The Delft experiments clarify what exactly happens in the sequence comparison of the two molecules, making clear why a 'wrong' sequence leads to quick dissociation of the molecules while a 'correct' sequence makes a strong bond leading up to further repair. These are the two elements that lead to the impressive speed and high efficiency of the DNA repair process.

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A needle in a haystack: How does a broken DNA molecule get repaired?

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., April 30 (UPI) -- A Colorado man wrongly convicted of a 1994 murder walked free after almost 16 years in prison because of new DNA evidence police say points to a new suspect.

Judge Brian Flynn signed a motion Monday, filed jointly by the Mesa County District Attorney's Office and attorney Danyel Joffee, to vacate the 1996 conviction of Joffee's client, Robert Dewey.

"He was unjustly imprisoned for a hideous crime he did not commit. I believe he has the courage and the stamina to put these dark days behind him and get on with his life. He was always optimistic that he was going to be released," Joffe said.

Dewey, 55, was found guilty in 1996 of the rape and murder of 19-year-old Jacie Taylor. He was released Monday after DNA found at the crime scene, not available in Mesa County when Dewey was convicted, determined Dewey was innocent -- and led police to a suspect who already was in custody.

Douglas Thames -- who has been charged with first degree sexual assault and first degree murder -- is serving a life sentence for a 1989 murder in Ft. Collins, KUSA-TV, Denver, reported.

During Dewey's trial, forensics experts testified Dewey's shirt showed a stain containing both his blood and Taylor's DNA. Dewey's defense argued the combination could have come from many sources, and tried to convince the jury investigators didn't do a good job and had overlooked other suspects, KUSA said.

The case was reviewed in 2010 by the DNA Justice Review Project, which operates under the auspices of the Denver District Attorney Colorado Attorney General's office through a grant of more than $1.2 million.

Asked about his plans, Dewey said he would "take it a day at a time and a step at a time," KKCO-TV, Grand Junction, Colo., reported.

"I'm not going to Disneyland ... Gonna get a bite to eat; get some real food a steak or something."

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DNA: Man freed after 16 years in rape case

Robert Dewey listens to Rich Tuttle, the original prosecutor during Dewey's trial in the mid-1990s in Grand Junction, Colo., Monday, April 30, 2012. (William Woody, Special to The Denver Post)

GRAND JUNCTIONRobert Dewey, imprisoned for nearly 18 years for a crime he did not commit, has been ordered released, cleared by DNA evidence that points the finger at a new suspect in the rape and murder of a Palisade woman in 1994.

"I find that Mr. Dewey is factually innocent of the crimes of which he was accused of in this case," the judge said, noting Dewey had spent more the 6,000 days behind bars. "Mr. Dewey is now again a free man."

Seated at a table in a blue shirt, his hair in long braids, Dewey declined to speak during the crowded hearing.

"It takes real character to stand up and say we made a mistake 17 years ago," Dewey's post-conviction lawyer Danyel Joffe said as she asked a Mesa County

Robert Dewey mug shot (Colorado Dept. of Corrections)

Prosecutors re-examined evidence found in 19-year-old Jacie Taylor's apartment after her death and with new technology, lifted a full DNA profile from semen found on a blanket.

They believe it matches that of Douglas Thames, who is currently serving life for the high-profile 1989 rape and strangulation of Susan Doll in Fort Collins.

Dewey, who has served nearly 18 years of a life sentence in state prison, is expected to walk free today after a 3:30 p.m. court hearing.

Defense attorney Steve Laiche described Dewey as "serene and insightful."

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DNA evidence clears Robert Dewey, who has served 18 years for murder

GRAND JUNCTIONThe sweet smell of burning sage from a smudge stick wafted around Robert Dewey outside the Mesa County District Courthouse on Monday afternoon as he performed a Native American cleansing ceremony.

Behind him: nearly 18 years in a tiny prison cell and a wrongful conviction on a 1994 rape and murder.

What lies ahead of him is less clear.

A judge granted a joint motion to exonerate Dewey after a re-examination of DNA evidence pointed to a new suspect: Douglas Thames, who is already incarcerated for a similar crime in Fort Collins.

Dewey, 51, now faces the challenge of finding work with a prison record and fixing a back problem that worsened in prison. Then, he joked, there's the

"Coming out of a shoebox into this," Dewey said after his court hearing, "there's a lot for me to catch up on."

Freeing Dewey after more than 6,000 days behind bars was a historic occasion, said District Judge Brian Flynn.

"It's really a pretty humbling day for a lot of people involved in the criminal-justice system," Flynn said.

Dewey's post-conviction attorney, Danyel Joffe, credited Mesa County prosecutor Rich Tuttle, the attorney general's office and law enforcement for re-investigating her client's case after all these years.

"It takes real character to stand up and say we made a mistake 17 years ago," Joffe said as she asked for her client's exoneration in court.

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New DNA evidence clears Dewey in 1994 Grand Junction murder

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler asked the states highest court to overturn or at least suspend last weeks ruling that prohibits DNA collection from suspects charged but not yet convicted in violent crimes, saying he plans to challenge the decision with the U.S. Supreme Court if the state judges do not reverse themselves.

On Tuesday, Gansler (D) filed a motion asking the Court of Appeals to reconsider its Alonzo Jay King Jr. v. State of Maryland decision, which found that swabbing criminal suspects for DNA samples after they are charged is a violation of their constitutional rights. That means the same judges who said investigators violated Kings Fourth Amendment rights in taking his genetic material and comparing it with old crime scene samples must decide whether to change their minds.

We live in the 21st century. We have DNA evidence, Gansler said in an interview. Practically every other court thats looked at this has upheld it as not violative of the Fourth Amendment.

King was arrested in Wicomico County in April 2009 on assault charges. Prosecutors used a DNA swab stemming from that case to connect him to a 2003 rape. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the rape.

In a 5 to 2 ruling, the Maryland Court of Appeals sent Kings rape case back to the circuit court and threw out the DNA evidence.

Police chiefs and prosecutors criticized the ruling, saying it would hamper their ability to solve cold cases and could jeopardize the convictions of 34 robbers, burglars and rapists whose genetic samples were taken after they were charged in separate cases.

Stephen Mercer, the chief attorney for the Office of the Maryland Public Defenders Forensics Division, said those criticisms overstate the usefulness of the database of DNA samples from charged criminals, which has produced dozens of convictions based on thousands of samples.

Law enforcement officials across the state said they planned to stop collecting DNA from charged suspects while they awaited further court action, and they would evaluate cases that stemmed from DNA in the charged offender database.

In his motion, Gansler argues that the Court of Appeals decision runs counter to what other courts nationwide have held. The motion urges judges not to forget that DNA helped win a conviction against King in a heinous crime against a real, life-and-blood victim.

Mercer said the emotional plea ignores that investigators are placing presumably innocent people under genetic surveillance and using their DNA to investigate them for past and future crimes without evidence linking them to those crimes.

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Gansler asks Maryland high court to overturn or suspend DNA swab ruling