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Category Archives: DNA

Judge Rules Against Novel DNA Test In One Twin’s Rape Case – WBUR

Posted: April 19, 2017 at 9:37 am

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A defendant charged with aggravated rape and robbery of two Dorchester women has won his motion to exclude the results of a novel DNA test from his upcoming trial.

Standard DNA testing of evidence from the crime scene showed a match to both Dwayne McNair, 36, of Dedham, and his identical twin brother.

But the Suffolk County district attorney turned to an advancedtechnique, which it claims can distinguish one identical twin's DNA from the other's.

As WBUR's David Boeri reported last month:

"Next generation," or "massive parallel," sequencing, as its called, enables scientists to map out the genome of each twin. That's the entire set of genetic instructions in the bundles of DNA the chromosomes found in every cell.

The goalis to findmutations, those rare events in the process of cell division that occur while each cell is otherwise faithfully copying some 3billion letters of genetic code. Inevitably, as with every typist, there's going to be a typo.

That "next generation" test pointed to Dwayne McNair.

But Superior Court Judge Linda Giles has ruled that the technique is not admissible because ithas not been replicatedor peer reviewed, and is not yet accepted by geneticists.

McNair is in jail and awaiting trial.

AsBoeri reported last month, ahead of Giles' ruling:

If the prosecution is denied the use of the new evidence, it will still have the evidence from conventional DNA testing that narrows the suspects to one brother or the other.

With reporting by WBUR's David Boeri

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Watch Kendrick Lamar’s New DNA. Video Starring Don Cheadle … – Pitchfork

Posted: at 9:37 am

Kendrick Lamarrecently released his new studio album DAMN.He has now sharedthe music video for DNA., directed by Nabil and the Little Homies (Kendrick and Dave Free). It stars actor Don Cheadle, who kicks off the video by interrogating Kendrick. Kendrick Lamar, two first names, huh, he says. What the fuck is up with that? He then proceeds to lip sync the song, switching off with Kendrick. The end of the video features a new outro not found on the album version of the song, and the visual ends withSchoolboy Q walking towards the camera before punching it out. (For those curious, the Chinese characters found in the video spell outKung Fu Kenny.) Watch it below.

Along with DNA.,DAMN.includes the songs HUMBLE., and FEAR., as well as appearances from Rihanna, U2, and the recently unmasked producerBekon. DAMN.marks Kendricks first proper album since the release ofTo Pimp a Butterflyin 2015. Last year saw the rapper put outuntitled unmastered., a collection of demos and outtakes from the TPABsessions.

Read 5 Takeaways from Kendrick Lamars DAMN., and Pitchforksinterview with Kendrick collaborator Zacari about his work on the new album.

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Is the Formula for Perfect Skin Care Hidden in Your DNA? – OZY

Posted: at 9:37 am

For many of Dr. Sejal Shahs dermatology patients, a consultation in her New York office involves more than a discussion of how to vanquish crows-feet. More than 100 of her clients at SmarterSkin Dermatology have willingly swabbed the inside of their cheeks in a quest to get skin advice tailored to their DNA. Most of the swab tests are included in a treatment package; if not, patients cough up $499 for the salivary analysis.

The concept of consumer DNA testing was popularized by 23andMe, which has earned more than $100 million since its founding in 2006. But theres a growing demand for DNA deconstruction by beauty aficionados who care more about their skin quality than their ancestry. They think one-size-fits-all skin care is backward and believe or hope that their saliva holds the key to complexion perfection.

Everyone has experienced frustration when a skin care or beauty product works for our friend but not for us.

Robin Smith, founder and CEO, Orig3n

In response, a mini-industry now services this market. Companies like GeneU, SkinDNA and SkinShift happily provide DNA skin analysis, many selling personalized skin care that costs $50 to $250 per month. Theres even a Chinese company offering luxury tests for $554, which includes a session with a nutritionist or personal trainers. Globally, the DNA testing market is anticipated to reach $10 billion by 2022, according to Grand View Research. The way were moving in, everything is customization, says Shah. People [are looking for] a more objective assessment as to why you recommend certain things.

On the budget end of the spectrum, there are several at-home DNA skin analysis kits available, such as the $99 Aura skin assessment from Orig3n, a commercial DNA company. They promise a report on the genes that affect skin aging, elasticity, ultraviolet sensitivity and hydration within four weeks of receiving a cheek swab. Everyone has experienced frustration when a skin care or beauty product works for our friend but not for us, Robin Smith, founder and CEO of Orig3n, tells OZY by email. It can be hard to find the best options for our bodies because were all unique. Smith envisages a future where personalized skin care is commonplace, and every DNA test spits out a perfectly designed product to treat individual issues.

The direct-to-consumer DNA landscape is varied, and its hard for the average person to know whether any of the help that companies profess to offer is accurate or actionable. Sure, a board festooned with Stanford and Harvard degrees is nice, but with the Theranos scandal of last year, its important to be thorough. Theres not a lot of strong data for this type of genetic information, says genetic counselor Scott Weissman from Chicago Genetic Consultants. And some studies on direct-to-consumer testing [show] most people dont alter their behavior; they do it out of the curiosity factor.

The more analytically minded can look to the TeloYears test from Telomere Diagnostics, which analyzes your aging based on your telomeres. Now for the science part: In basic terms, imagine telomeres as the caps at the end of your chromosomes. They shorten with age and poor lifestyle choices, but theres some research on how you can reverse this contraction with good choices. The TeloYears test gives users a number that represents their cellular age, which can be very different from their chronological age. Telomere Diagnostics CEO Jason Shelton says his first result placed him at 34 years old (hes 44). Six months later and post-workout regime, a second test pegged him as 27 years old. This isnt pseudoscience; the company was co-founded by Elizabeth Blackburn, a co-winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for her work in telomeres (she has since left the company).

My test showed that my cells are one year older than my calendar age. Given my lifestyle choices and medical history, Im surprised its not higher. Its not about more years in their life; its about more life in their years, Shelton says, in perfectly scripted patter. He believes TeloYears is more actionable than other DNA tests, and that improving your health also affects your physical appearance.

In fact, the original DNA mapping company, 23andMe, is now getting more involved in the skin care market. It has partnered with the Procter & Gamble brand Olay to investigate which genes make people look younger and has found causal genetic relations between appearance and youth. It was interesting to find specific genetic associations with skin aging and prove a long-held belief that part of looking younger is, in fact, in your genes, Emily Drabant Conley, vice president of business development at 23andMe, tells OZY by email. In January 2017 Olay started selling reformulated products based on evidence from the research study.

Overall, taking action on any of the skin care suggestions from DNA tests is unlikely to have a negative effect applying extra sunscreen never hurt anyone. Weissman says these tests are more snake oil than actual clinical utility, meaning beauty gals dont need genetic skin care counselors. He only has a problem when they undergo major changes like mastectomies based on faulty DNA results.

For now, people getting a DNA test at the dermatologist are in the minority, but Shah sees growth here as inevitable. Skin care in general is going to a custom level, she says, whether or not theyre using skin DNA or other tests.

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A Pastor and Geneticist Join Together in Hunt for Jesus DNA – KETV Omaha

Posted: April 17, 2017 at 12:27 pm

A Pastor and Geneticist Join Together in Hunt for Jesus DNA
KETV Omaha
For its Easter special The Jesus Strand: A Search for DNA, the History Channel wanted to combine religious history and science. Angeli Kakade (@angelikakade) has the story. Advertisement. Frightened elephant fights crocodile snapping at its trunk. Vuz |.

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Calif. pastor’s faith joins science in History Channel’s hunt for Jesus … – USA TODAY

Posted: at 12:27 pm

USA Today Network Donna Orozco, Visalia (Calif.) Times-Delta Published 3:44 p.m. ET April 16, 2017 | Updated 4 hours ago

For its Easter special The Jesus Strand: A Search for DNA, the History Channel wanted to combine religious history and science. Angeli Kakade (@angelikakade) has the story. Buzz60

Pastor Joe Basile and Oxford University geneticist, George Busby, on St. John's Island in the Dead Sea at the actual dig site where a box was discovered containing bones and teeth that some believe to be the actual bones of John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin.(Photo: Submitted)

How do you go from a Chicago rapper to a Biblical expert sought out by the History Channel to go to the Holy Land to do an Easter Sunday special on the DNA of Jesus?

Its been a long, incredible road for Joe Basile, lead pastor of both the Encounter Road Church in Visalia and the Encounter Church in Clovis.

Suffice it to say, he was chosen by the History channel to work with Oxford University geneticist George Busby, combining faith and science to search for Jesus DNA.

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The History channel really wanted accuracy, Pastor Joe said. We used the Bible as a map combined with science. My role was to make sure we didnt get out of bounds.

The two experts used the latest scientific advances in DNA to investigate the worlds most famous holy relics, including the Shroud of Turin, The Sudarium of Oviedo and the newly discovered bones of Jesus cousin, John the Baptist.

The result is The Jesus Strand: A Search for DNA,a two-hour special airing at 9 p.m. Eastern on Easter Sunday.

Getting chosen for a project like this sounds too good to be true, said the tattoo-covered Pastor Joe. I even told the church, this probably isnt real, but theyre interested in me.

After being interviewed and chosen as the Biblical expert for the show, he spent 25 days with Busby and a film crew going to holy sites from Spain and Italy to Israel and the shores of the Black Sea.

By extracting and analyzing samples of holy relics at each site, they hoped to retrieve a sample of DNA that possibly belonged to Jesus or a member of his family.

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The goal was to see if they could find a strand of Jesus DNA, which could help identify descendants of Jesus and provide new insight into the man many consider to be the most important person in history.

We were able to go to places no one else gets to and look at artifacts that are pretty incredible, Basile said. It was a life-changing moment for me.

Oxford University geneticist George Busby and Pastor Joe Basile in Israel on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem, described in the Bible as the place from which Jesus ascended into heaven.(Photo: Submitted)

They looked at some of the oldest Bibles and ancient texts at the Bodleian Library at Oxford, one of the most celebrated libraries in the world.

In Turin, Italy, they were allowed to do tests on the Shroud of Turin, recorded in the Bible as the burial shroud that wrapped Jesus.

The Vatican has only allowed two tests of it, Basile said. They allowed us access to their testing, and we did some tests ourselves.

In northern Spain, they viewed the Sudarium of Oviedo, the cloth that both tradition and scientific studies claim was used to cover and clean the face of Jesus after the crucifixion.

On St. Johns Island off the coast of Bulgaria in the Black Sea, they tested the bones found in 2010 believed to be those of John the Baptist.

Crossing the Black Sea to the Island of St. John was incredible, Pastor Joe said.

Of course, the entire trip was an amazing experience for him.

The big joke was watching me react, he said. I cheered; I laughed. I said Im going to cry a lot. This was very personal for me.

Science and religion do not always agree on historic artifacts. George and I had to discoverme from the Bible, him from sciencewhat is honest, Basile said.

John Verhoff, programming executive producer of the History channel, explained the challenge.

Because of the tremendous leap in DNA technology in the past few years, there was a discussion to see if we could access some of the most famous religious relics and test for DNA. The idea was to see if we could reveal new information about the relics as well as find something that might point to the historic Jesus. We wanted to see if science could deepen our understanding of Jesus, the man.

The channel wanted to show a balanced view.

Pastor Joe Basile in London at Oxford University's Bodleian Library doing research with ancient Bibles and artifacts.(Photo: Submitted)

Joe has a strong faith as well as genuine curiosity. He was open to investigating the historical Jesus. Joe is someone who could balance the religious aspect of this journey along with the historic and scientific.

It was an exhausting process.

Every night, I was studying on whatever the experts were going to talk about the next dayscriptures, history, location, languages, Basile said. I saw all my studies come to life. The entire journey surprised me.

My goal was for Jesus to come off the pages and come to life. I think we found some interesting things.

Basile wouldnt reveal any of those things, saying people would have to watch the show to learn their discoveries.

Basile grew up in a large Italian-American Catholic family in Chicago, the youngest of 10 children.

After having what he described as a "powerful moment in an evangelical Protestant church," he went on a spiritual journey,Basile said.

He enrolled at Trinity International University as Biblical studies major, becoming the first person in his family to graduate from college, Basile said.

"Honestly, it was a tremendous thirst for answers. It started with my first Bible. I created my own concordance in the back of my Bible of passages that provided clear answers to pressing questions," he said. "Every time I filled up the back, I gave that Bible to a new Christian and I created a new one.

Basile started a church in his hometown, moved to L.A. to start a church and was approached to host three reality shows on religion, which were never sold.

More recently he came to Fresno as pastor of the Fresno First Baptist Church, and two years ago started his church in Clovis. When the pastor of The Road Church in Visalia retired, the two churches merged.

Basile has been on the Jim Franklin show on KMJ radio multiple times and was asked to defend the resurrection from an intellectual perspective. His church is on TV on the CW channel every Sunday morning.

So he was a logical choice for the History channels exploration.

During the trip, the unconventional pastor was able to have fun and laugh at himself.

Im Italian but had never been to Italy," he said. "Theyre all slender, handsome and tall. What happened to me?

But mainly he hopes this show will spur more investigation.

"I grew a lot. My heart is full. The people were wonderful. Im honored, Basile said. It shows that for a guy who lives in the Valley, God can use me to do pretty cool stuff.

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The DNA of a killer. Who killed Angie Dodge? – KTVA.com – Anchorage, Alaska

Posted: at 12:27 pm

Estimated read time

9m 38s

Correspondent: Anne-Marie Green; Producers: Judy Rybak, Elena DiFiore, Lindsey Schwartz and Chris OConnell

Nearly two decades after 18-year-old Angie Dodge was brutally murdered in her Idaho Falls, Idaho, apartment, police were still hunting for the killer who left his DNA at the crime scene, while a man who did not match the DNA was serving a 30-year sentence for participating in the crime.

In 2014, police took a new and very controversial approach to try to find a match to that DNA. They searched a public DNA database owned by Ancestry.com, hoping to find someone related to Angies killer. They got a close enough match to make them think they had found the killers family tree and there they found what they believed to be their man: a young New Orleans filmmaker who happened to have produced a short film about a girls brutal death.

But was he?

Nobody every thinks that theyre gonna get picked up by the police and taken into an interrogation room and questioned about a murder, filmmaker Michael Usry Jr. told 48 Hours. When it happens to you, its definitely a game changer.

Michael Usry Jr. (CBS NEWS)

Michael Usry Jr: The ability to kill is obviously somewhere in all of us. Because it happens every day across the country.

Michael Usry Jr: Two-and-a-half years ago my wife and I, we were livin in New Orleans having a good time. living there in The Big Easy.

Michael Usry Jr.: And I was working in the movie business. Ive produced and had directed a few short films.

Michael Usry Jr: Murderabilia got me the reputation of being a person who is really into murder. And things like that.

Michael Usry Jr: My name is Michael Usry. Im a filmmaker and was a suspect in the Angie Dodge case.

1996 news report: Nineteen-year-old [sic] Angie Dodge was murdered last week, the latest violent crime in Idaho Falls.

Det. Patrick McKenna | Idaho Falls Police Dept.: At least one of the weapons used in it was a knife.

Chief Mark McBride | Idaho Falls Police Dept: As the officers arrived at the crime scene and found Angie Dodge laying on the ground And it was obvious that there was a very brutal murder that happened. A lot of blood.

Det. Patrick McKenna: Its sad to see an 18-year-old girl, and see her life taken at the hands of somebody else in this fashion.

Carol Dodge: Angie was my only daughter and shes my baby. Ill never stop missing her.

Chief Mark McBride: During the investigation we collected all the evidence; we came across a significant amount of DNA that we believe is from the killer.

Anne-Marie Green: Would you say that this crime scene provided really good evidence?

Greg Hampikian | DNA expert: Excellent evidence You had a neat semen sample.

For nearly two decades police could not find a match to the killers DNA, so in 2014, they went way outside the box, and searched a public DNA database owned by Ancestry.com.

Carol Dodge: It led us to this Michael Usry Jr. Who just happened to be a filmmaker.

Det. Patrick McKenna: Films of homicide um kind of a murder mystery filmmaker.

Det. Patrick McKenna: It was pretty creepy. We had Louisiana State Police call him.

Det. Patrick McKenna: He had agreed to come down to the state offices there in New Orleans.

Michael Usry Jr.: the majority of the time that I was in the interrogation room, I just didnt know what they were talkin about. They finally had to look at me and go no we think that you, Michael Usry we think that youre involved in this murder case.

Det. Patrick McKenna: My whole purpose is to find who killed Angie Dodge.

HOW THE FILMMAKER BECAME A SUSPECT

Carol Dodge: Grief has no time limit I just cant, I cant let go. I cant let go of her.

Carol Dodge lost her daughter, Angie, when she was just a teenager.

Carol Dodge: She was just discovering who she truly was and wanting independence. she says, Just let me grow up. Let me make my own mistakes. You know, you dont need to watch me, you know, you dont need to be my shadow.

It was the summer of 1996 in Idaho Falls, Idaho, a mostly Mormon community, where neighbors knew each other by name, and doors were rarely locked, says Chief of Police Mark McBride.

Chief Mark McBride: It was a very, really a very quiet, peaceful town overall.

Just three weeks before her death, 18-year-old Angie got her own apartment.

Carol Dodge: I saw her the night that she was killed. She said, Its so hard growin up. and she laid her head on my shoulder and we just kinda rocked back and forth. And Im so grateful for that moment extremely grateful that [crying] my last words were that I love her.

The next morning, Angie didnt show up for work at a local beauty supply store.

Chief Mark McBride: We got a phone call at our 911 center about 11:00 in the morning and one of her friends at work came to check on her and the door was unlocked. She went in and she found a body laying there on the floor and a very bloody crime scene.

There was no sign of forced entry, but there were signs of a struggle.

Anne-Marie Green: You think she fought for her life?

Chief Mark McBride: Yes, I do.

Angie was stabbed and cut 14 times and left half naked. There were no signs of rape, but the killer ejaculated, leaving behind what DNA expert Greg Hampikian calls a pristine profile.

Greg Hampikian: Its a single profile, complete identification. One man to the exclusion of everyone on the planet.

Police tested the DNA of dozens of local men but couldnt get a match. So, for months, they interviewed everyone Angie knew, including Christopher Tapp. Although his DNA didnt match and he denied any involvement, after more than 28 hours of interrogation over 23 days, Tapp confessed to participating in Angies murder.

Detective: You were there correct?

Chris Tapp: Correct.

Anne-Marie Green: Did you know Christopher Tapp?

Carol Dodge: No. Didnt know had no clue.

Tapp told police that the night of Angies death he and two friends stopped by her apartment. During an argument, Tapp claimed one of his friends started stabbing Angie while he held her down.

Detective: Youre holding her down, OK, while shes being cut, youre holding her down while shes being

Chris Tapp: Cut.

But when Tapp went before a judge, he pleaded not guilty.

Carol Dodge: I said, You beast. You horrible beast How could he do this to my daughter?

The defense argued Tapps DNA didnt match the killers, but on May 28, 1998, it took the jury only 13 hours to reach a verdict: guilty.

Nearly two years after Angie Dodge was murdered, Chris Tapp faced his punishment with Carol Dodge glaring at him:

Judge: You are guilty of the crimes of murder in the first degree and rape.

Tapps sentence: 30 years-to-life. But the murder of Angie Dodge was still an open case. Remember, Chris Tapp did not match the DNA and he wouldnt tell police who did.

Carol Dodge: I just couldnt understand why he would go to prison and take a life sentence and not give the other person up.

Tapp did give authorities several names, including someone named Mike.

Detective: How sure are you that his first name is Mike?

Chris Tapp: Im dead positive.

But police could never make a DNA match. So the case went cold, but not for Carol Dodge.

Carol Dodge: I never stop looking for the actual person who matches the DNA. Its one individual. Thats the person Im looking for.

By 2009, the killers DNA had been entered into the national criminal databaseknown as CODIS, but there was still no match. So, Carol Dodge called well-known DNA expert Greg Hampikian.

Greg Hampikian: I had this message. They dont know who killed my my daughter.

By then, there had been many advances in DNA technology, and with Hampikians help, Carol Dodge pushed authorities to make use of a controversial new search process called, familial DNA. It looks for anyone who might be related to Angies killer.

Greg Hampikian: Which means going into that database in Idaho of the convicted offenders, and looking for a family member that might match this DNA partially.

Erin Murphy: Two places, D.C. and Maryland passed a law that says no familial searches are allowed.

New York University law professor Erin Murphy wrote Inside the Cell: The Dark Side of Forensic DNA, and says theres real privacy concerns with familial DNA searches.

Erin Murphy: The states that I think are worried about this are worried about maybe we can use your DNA to see if your brothers breaking the law or if your dads breaking the law, or your sons breaking the law.

Idaho doesnt allow familial searches in their criminal database, so Greg Hampikian made an even more controversial suggestion: a familial search through public databases.

Carol Dodge: Im the one that went to the Idaho Falls Police Department and the prosecution saying we need to do this.

Imagine you are one of millions of Americans who have opened a DNA home test kit, spit into a test tube, and then send your DNA to a commercial database. That database now owns your DNA profile and you may not realize it, but police might be able to access it.

Chief Mark McBride: Were interested in solvin a crime and were gonna use any technique we can that we can legally use.

In the summer of 2014, detectives searched a public DNA database owned by Ancestry.com and they got a hit.

Greg Hampikian: I was told they got 34 out of 35 markers.

Anne-Marie Green: Is that good?

Greg Hampikian: Yeah. Thats thats a good investigative lead.

It was a close enough match to make Det. Patrick McKenna think they had found a relative of Angies killer. So police got a warrant for Ancestry.com to reveal his identity. It was a man named Michael Usry Sr.

Det. Patrick McKenna: We know its not that individual or we would have had 35 out of 35 on that, so thats when we started doing research into the family.

That led investigators to suspect Usrys son, Michael Usry Jr.

Detective McKenna wondered if this could be the Mike that Chris Tapp once named:

Det. Patrick McKenna: And then we started researchin him and the films that he was making, and it was a little eerie to think that that could possibly possibly be a solid suspect in the case.

A CONFESSION?

Anne-Marie Green: I have to ask you this question. Do you have a particular interest in murder?

Michael Usry Jr.: I I dont have a particular interest in murder. You know

Read more at CBSNews.com.

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DNA leads to arrest in murder of jogger in Massachusetts – USA TODAY

Posted: at 12:27 pm

Associated Press Published 7:50 a.m. ET April 16, 2017 | Updated 22 hours ago

Massachusetts police have arrested a man in connection with the August killing of woman who had been out jogging in the woods, a case that closely resembled a second daylight murder in New York City less than a week earlier. USA TODAY

Driver's license photo released by the Worcester County District Attorney's Office shows Vanessa Marcotte, of New York, whose body was found Aug. 7, 2016.(Photo: AP)

PRINCETON, Mass. - DNA evidence and an attentive state trooper helped find the man authorities believe killed a New York City woman last summer who was out jogging near her mothers Massachusetts home, authorities said Saturday.

Good afternoon. We got him, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. proclaimed at a news conference Saturday outside the police department in Princeton, a small community of about 3,500 residents in central Massachusetts. Its about 40 mileswest of Boston.

Were very comfortable that weve got Vanessa Marcottes killer, Early said.

The body of 27-year-old Marcotte was found Aug. 7 in some woods about a half-mile from her mothers house, where the young woman was visiting family. Marcotte, who worked as an account manager for Google in New York, had gone out to run several hours earlier.

Police said throughout the investigation they believed Marcotte fought her attacker and the suspect had scratches on his face, neck and arms. On Saturday, Early said DNA taken from Marcottes hands during an autopsy helped solve the case. The DNA was used to help create a profile of a suspect, which was released two months ago. It also matched the DNA of 31-year-old Angelo Colon-Ortiz, who lives in nearby Worcester and who police believe was working in the area at the time of Marcottes attack.

Its through her determined fight and her efforts that we obtained the DNA of her killer, Early said.

Colon-Ortiz was charged Friday with aggravated assault, aggravated assault and battery and assault with intent to rape. Early said more charges are expected.

The district attorney credited an alert state trooper assigned to the detective unit with recently spotting a dark SUV, the type of vehicle witnesses reported seeing in the area. He said that trooper also noticed the driver matched the profile released in February, which determined the suspect in Marcottes killing was a Hispanic or Latino man, about 30 years old, with light- to medium-toned skin, an athletic build and is either balding or has short hair.

Unable to find a piece of paper, Early said the trooper wrote down the vehicles license plate number on his hand. He then looked it up, visited the home of Colon-Ortiz and left a business card, asking him to call. When Colon-Ortiz didnt respond, the trooper later returned to the home and obtained a voluntary DNA sample from Colon-Ortiz. That sample was determined to be a match on Friday and Colon-Ortiz was subsequently arrested.

He was being held Saturday at the state police barracks in Millbury on a $10 million bond and is scheduled to appear in Leominster District Court Tuesday. Early said Colon-Ortiz, who speaks limited English, has requested an attorney.

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Researchers locate control center for DNA breaks during cell division – Phys.Org

Posted: at 12:27 pm

April 17, 2017 by Stephanie Dutchen Cell nuclei light up in the reproductive organ of a worm. Modifying a particular protein (green) by adding a phosphate group (red) sends a signal to stop breaking DNA. Credit: Priah Nadarajan

Breaks in DNA can wreak havoc in the body, giving rise to cancer and other health problems. Yet sometimes cells rupture their own DNA for a good reason.

During meiosis, when cells divide to become sperm and eggs, making and repairing DNA breaks helps lock together pairs of chromosomes so they can exchange genetic material and continue on their reproductive journey.

But even "good" breaks need to be controlled before they get out of hand, and so, once chromosomes have been paired up, something tells the DNA-snapping machinery to shut down. What exactly gives the command, however, has eluded researchersuntil now.

Studying the reproductive organs of tiny worms called Caenorhabditis elegans, a team of Harvard Medical School scientists has identified a trio of proteins that staff the DNA-break control center. If the same proteins operate the controls in humans, the researchers say, the finding could suggest new ways to rein in runaway DNA breaks throughout the body to avert cancer, infertility, miscarriages and birth defects.

Genetics professor Monica Colaicovo, postdoctoral fellow Saravanapriah Nadarajan and colleagues reported their discoveries in the journal eLife.

The team found that a pair of enzymes, polo-like kinases 1 and 2, sense when two chromosomes attach at a DNA break site. The enzymes then begin to sound the "no more breaks needed" alarm by sticking a chemical tag onto proteins called SYP-4. SYP-4 is part of a zipper-like structure that holds chromosome pairs together during meiosis.

The researchers watched through a microscope as a wave of this tagging, known as phosphorylation, started at the break site, shown above in green, and spread out, shown in pink, in both directions along the zipper until it reached the ends of the chromosomes.

"We think this makes the chromosomes less accessible to the machinery that makes the DNA breaks," said Colaicovo.

The researchers discovered that phosphorylation not only blocks additional DNA breaks, it also helps stabilize the zipper.

"Having a more stable zipper probably helps disseminate the 'stop' signal," said Colaicovo.

Further experiments showed that "when you mess up the ability to modify SYP-4, the cells never stop making double-strand breaks," Colaicovo added. As a result, worms with uncontrolled DNA breaks had problems with their eggs that led to infertility or sterility, Nadarajan revealed.

Having answered a fundamental question about how DNA breaks are controlled, the researchers are now wondering whether their discoveries apply to humans.

A look at sperm and egg precursor cells in mice and humans turned up a promising lead: Proteins that form the equivalent zipper are similarly phosphorylated by polo-like kinases.

Explore further: Researchers find chemical tag that locks chromosomes together during meiosis

More information: Saravanapriah Nadarajan et al. Polo-like kinase-dependent phosphorylation of the synaptonemal complex protein SYP-4 regulates double-strand break formation through a negative feedback loop, eLife (2017). DOI: 10.7554/eLife.23437

Journal reference: eLife

Provided by: Harvard Medical School

Chromosomes perform an intricate dance inside the nuclei of cells undergoing meiosis (dividing into sperm and eggs). One stumble can lead to infertility, miscarriage, birth defects or tumor formation.

Where would we be without meiosis and recombination? For a start, none of us sexually reproducing organisms would be here, because that's how sperm and eggs are made. And when meiosis doesn't work properly, it can lead to ...

A team of researchers from the biology department at TU Darmstadt has discovered that the processes for repairing DNA damage are far more complex than previously assumed. The ends of breaks in the double helix are not just ...

Monica Colaicovo has made a career of studying meiosis, the type of cell division that produces eggs and sperm. Meiosis is essential for healthy reproduction. Chromosomal abnormalities resulting from errors in meiosis cause ...

Crossovers and double-strand DNA breaks do not occur randomly on yeast chromosomes during meiosis, but are greatly influenced by the proximity of the chromosomes telomere, according to research in the laboratory of Whitehead ...

The genetic information we receive from our parents in the form of chromosomes are mosaics assembled from the two copies of chromosomes each parent has. How such cutsor breaksin our genetic material are repaired is ...

Scientists at the University of California, Davis have discovered that DNA sequences thought to be essential for gene activity can be expendable. Sequences once called junk sometimes call the shots instead.

The hot springs of Yellowstone National Park may be extreme environments, but they are host to a diversity of microbes that could shed light on the evolution of life on Earth and, perhaps, what lurks on distant planets.

Breaks in DNA can wreak havoc in the body, giving rise to cancer and other health problems. Yet sometimes cells rupture their own DNA for a good reason.

How some industrial pollutants or abnormal levels of cellular metabolites contribute to diverse human diseases is now more clearly understood, based on a new study from the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center (UWCCC) ...

Cocaine, nicotine, capsaicin. These are just three familiar examples of the hundreds of thousands of small molecules (also called specialized or secondary metabolites) that plants use as chemical ammunition to protect themselves ...

A Florida Museum of Natural History study provides new insights into the complex, shared history between blood-sucking lice and the vitamin-producing bacterial sidekicks that enable them to parasitize mammals, including primates ...

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Researchers locate control center for DNA breaks during cell division - Phys.Org

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Who are DNA? Britain’s Got Talent magic act who left Simon Cowell speechless – all you need to know – The Sun

Posted: at 12:27 pm

The duo had a number of celebrity fans before they even stepped onto the BGT stage

A MAGICAL thing happened on Britains Got Talent: Simon Cowell was left speechless.

The act responsible was DNA a magic double act who wowed the audience and judges with their mind reading skills on the first episode of the latest series.

Syco/Thames/Dymond

But what do we know about them and their act?

Darren, 29, and Andrew, 43, are a magic act called DNA andare well known in the industry.

They have worked at a number of corporate events and also as consultants for big name films.

The duo, who hail from Essex, have won accolades Gold Star Member of the Inner Magic Circle and The Magic Circle Close Up Magician of the Year for their work.

According to their website, they have previously entertained Fearne Cotton, Boris Becker, Bradley Walsh, Lenny Henry and Davina McCall.

Simon was called on stage and asked three questions to choose the number of a front door on an imaginary house, the colour of the houses lounge walls and the name of a celebrity sitting inside it.

The media mogul looked sceptical as he wrote down his answers that he had chosen at random in his mind.

When he read out his answers, 717, turquoise and Sir Roger Moore his jaw dropped when he turned to see the act had written the exact same thing has him.

Incredibly, throughout the sketch both Andrew and Darren had managed to change their clothes without a single person realising.

There have been a number of magicians who have trod on the BGTstage - though not a lot have been successful.

But last yearRichard Jonesbucked the trend, beating the odds to bag the title, a slot on the Royal Variety Show and 500,000.

He nowstars in his own TV show which sees him entertaining his fellow troops and forces sweetheart singer Katherine Jenkins.

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Who are DNA? Britain's Got Talent magic act who left Simon Cowell speechless - all you need to know - The Sun

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Slain Massachusetts jogger’s hands held DNA that led to suspect’s arrest – ABC News

Posted: April 15, 2017 at 5:11 pm

Police have made an arrest in connection with the killing last summer of a 27-year-old Google employee as she was out jogging in broad daylight in Massachusetts.

Vanessa Marcotte went for a jog on Aug. 7 near her mother's home in the town of Princeton, about 60 miles west of Boston.

She never returned, and her body was found that night in a wooded area about a half mile from her mothers house.

Authorities announced at a press conference Saturday afternoon that they had arrested 31-year-old Angel Colon-Ortiz in connection with the crime.

"We got him," Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said, followed by applause. "This has been a roller-coaster all along."

A DNA sample from Ortiz matched that found on Marcotte's hands, Early said.

Investigators said previously that Marcotte may have struggled with her attacker, and that whoever killed her received scratches, scrapes and bruises during the struggle.

After information was put out to the public recently about a possible suspect, a state trooper noticed a driver of a dark SUV in Worcester, Massachusetts, who matched the description of the suspect, Early said at the press conference Saturday.

The trooper wrote the license plate number on his hand, which led to Ortiz's arrest late Friday.

Early said initial evidence suggest Ortiz is from Worcester.

Ortiz is being held at Massachusetts State Police barracks in Millbury and is expected to be arraigned in district court on Tuesday. He is facing charges of aggravated assault, aggravated assault and battery as well as assault with intent to rape, Early said, noting that a murder charge is also expected to be added.

Police have said Marcotte was likely attacked between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. local time on Aug. 7.

Police sources have told ABC News there were signs Marcotte was sexually assaulted and that there were burns on parts of her body.

Marcotte may have struggled with her killer, according to the Worcester County District Attorney's Office. The unknown killer, only identified as a man, received scratches, scrapes and bruises during the struggle.

Early has said Marcotte, an account manager at Google in New York, frequently visited Massachusetts and was planning to return to New York City on the day of her death.

A Google representative described Marcotte in a statement as "a much loved member of the Google team" who was "known for her ubiquitous smile, passion for volunteer work and love of Boston sports. We are deeply shocked and saddened, and our thoughts are with her family and friends."

Her alma mater, Boston University, has paid tribute to her as well. "We're so terribly sad for her family and friends," Colin Riley, the executive director of media relations at Boston University, told ABC News in August. "They're in our thoughts and prayers."

Marcotte was murdered just five days after another female jogger was killed in the New York City borough of Queens. Police said Karina Vetrano, 30, was strangled to death on Aug. 2, while out for a jog along a path she often ran with her father.

Authorities in New York and Massachusetts do not believe the murders of two young women are related, but police in both states have been working together to solve the mysteries surrounding their deaths.

Early has said, "we haven't ruled anything out," in regard to the similarities in the two cases.

ABC News' Benjamin Stein and Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.

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Slain Massachusetts jogger's hands held DNA that led to suspect's arrest - ABC News

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