Category Archives: DNA

In College Station, Texas, 40-year-oldVirginia Freeman, a wife, mother, and real estate agent, was known for her energetic personality and deep connection to her community.

But on December 1, 1981, Virginia was found murdered at a vacant Brazos County residence she was showing to a potential buyer.

The shocking discovery was made by her husband, Charles Freeman, whod grown concerned when his wife didnt come home after work. He immediately called authorities.

Sheriffs observed that Virginia had been struck on the head and stabbed in the neck.

The viciousness of the attack on a woman really got to me, Det. Dick Gulledge, now retired from the Brazos County Sheriffs Office, told Exhumed: Killer Revealed, airing Sundays at 7/6c on Oxygen. We call it overkill.

Wounds on her hands indicated that Virginia had fought for her life in her final moments. In a decision that would prove significant nearly four decades down the road, Virginias defensive wounds were carefully preserved.

In those days we didn't have DNA, but we could get blood type. So I asked that her fingernails be scraped for possible skin particles from the perpetrator, said Gulledge. And so we bagged her hands.

The medical examiners report revealed the extreme violence Virginia endured when she died. She was stabbed 11 times in the neck and her hyoid bone was broken, indicating that shed also been strangled. No signs of a sexual assault were found.

Detectives began their investigation with Charles Freeman. They found no indications of trouble within the marriage, and his alibi was rock solid. He was ruled out as a suspect.

An early lead arose when a local brick mason told officials that he drove by the crime scene around the time of Virginias murder. The bricklayer believed he saw a man and his vehicle parked in front of Virginias car.

To help sharpen the masons fuzzy memories, he was put under forensic hypnosis. That process yielded a composite sketch and a partial license plate but, in the end, no firm leads at that time.

It was just another dead end for us, investigators told producers.

Virginias case stalled for two years, until a possible lead emerged that was connected to another homicide. Henry Lee Lucas was convicted of killing a woman in Ringgold, Texas, about 250 miles away from where Virginia's body was found.

Before leaving the courtroom, Lucas, who was sentenced to death row, shocked the court when he claimed to have killed many more women. Was he telling the truth? Was Virginia among his victims?

When investigators learned that Lucas had been in Brazos County around the time of Virginias murder they were encouraged by the possibility. So, they showed him a picture of her and Lucas said he had in fact stabbed her in the neck.But when Lucas failed to identify the scene of the crime they realized hed made a false confession to buy himself time as he sat on death row, investigators told Exhumed: Killer Revealed.

Again, the case stalled and went cold. But in 1997, advances in DNA technology opened up possible new avenues of investigation.

We found an unknown source of DNA under the fingernails of Virginia Freeman, said Chris Kirk, now retired from the Brazos County Sheriffs Office. We knew she struggled. It was obvious that that was the killers DNA. And so that really set us off to find that person.

The Brazos County Sheriff's Department teamed up with the Texas Rangers Cold Case Task Force to officially reopen the investigation into Virginias 1981 murder.The task force set out to test the DNA of all suspects in the case. That included Charles Freeman whose DNA was not a match for evidence found beneath Virginias fingernails.

Around the same time, Joshua Ray, Texas Ranger, Texas Dept. of Public Safety, had the partial license plate obtained in 1981 put through a database that had advanced over the years.

A possible lead emerged: a former Army soldier stationed at Food Hood at the time of Virginias murder. After being interviewed and swabbed for DNA, however, this individual was ruled out as a suspect. Once again, investigators were back at square one.

The team refocused their efforts to revisiting dozens of cases within the past 40 years. A particular one caught their attention:James Otto Earhart, then 44 years old, a former appliance repairman who was on death row.

Six years after Virginias murder Earhart had been convicted of killing a 9-year-old girl less than 10 miles from the Freeman crime scene. In 1997, investigators were determined to test Earharts DNA to see if they could match it to the DNA profile generated from evidence found on Virginia.

They immediately ran into a roadblock. They needed more than just suspicion of Earharts involvement to obtain the convicted murderers DNA. Once again, the case stalled.

Over the years, DNA technology continued to evolve. In June 2018, with the help of a private laboratory, investigators used genealogyrecords to link Earhart to Virginias murder with extremely high probability, according to Texas Department of Public Safety records.

Obtaining Earharts DNA would prove to be an enormous obstacle. He had been executed in 1999, which meant that they would have to exhume his body. Moreover, investigators would have to convince a court that there was legal cause to exhume Earharts body.

With help from Earharts son, the team got the necessary green light to move forward. Earhart was exhumed in June 2018. Investigators were shocked to discover that Earhart had not been buried in a coffin but in a cardboard box.The box had disintegrated over the years, and his body was in a very poor state of preservation.

His remains were exposed to the earthy surroundings, which allowed his remains to be completely skeletonized, said Dr. Rhome Hughes, forensic pathologist.

A sample of Earharts DNA was collected from a femur bone, and it was analyzed at a lab in Austin. On August 30, 2019, it was found to match the DNA profile from Virginias fingernail clippings.

At that point, we knew for 100 percent that James Otto Earhart was the person who killed Virginia, said Kirk.

By this time, Charles Freeman had died. But his children knew justice was served.

Investigators were elated that the case was finally closed. Their one regret was that they couldnt put handcuffs on Earhart.

To find out more about the case and others like it, watch Exhumed: Killer Revealed,which you can stream here.

Original post:
The Prime Suspect In A Texas Woman's Murder Is Exhumed What Did It Tell Investigators? - Oxygen

NEW YORK (PIX11) The Office of Chief Medical Examiner said the brother of a Staten Island teen who went missing in 1976 will submit DNA for a databank at Saturdays Missing Persons Day.

Freddie Escobar, the brother of Rafael Escobar Jr. who was 19 when he disappeared from a Staten Island group home told forensic scientists he will get swabbed for DNA.

The goal is to see if Freddie Escobars DNA matches any of the unidentified missing found in the United States, dead or alive.

Their DNA will only go into the Missing Persons data bank, said Mark Desire, assistant director at the Department of Forensic Biology.

He said the genetic profiles dont go into any other databases.

We are bound by law to only search missing persons cases, Desire added.

Veronica Cano is a criminalist whos worked at the DNA MIssing Persons lab for six years.

Its very rewarding, Cano said of the times when theres a DNA match. I love my job.

Jonathan Holly works on the initial phase of investigations, when the remains of unidentified people show up at the medical examiners office. He showed PIX11 News how bone fragments can get pulverized into powder, so DNA can be extracted.

Every year, about 14,000 people go missing in New York City. Even though most eventually turn up, hundreds of others vanish without a trace.

Desire said the remains of 40,000 Jane and John Does are buried in potters fields around the United States.

He said his scientists are using a new technology called Next Generation Sequencing to better extract DNA from bones.

Families interested in submitting a DNA sample at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner can go to the Hirsch Building at 421 East 26th Street this Saturday, June 25. Missing Persons Day will last from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Desire said the quick swabbing for saliva is free, quick and not painful.

Test results could take two to four weeks.

See the article here:
Family of missing Staten Island man will submit DNA to database - PIX11 New York News

Imagine being given advanced warning as to how you might be likely to die, along with advice on what you could do to prevent it.

That is the power of genome sequencing. And while the rapidly developing technology cannot make you immortal, it could help us all live healthier for longer.

By knowing not only if a patient is likely to develop diabetes or cancer, but what drugs will be most effective for recovery based on their DNA, doctors will have the power to transform the way health care is delivered.

Home DNA testing is now available in a Dh999 ($272) saliva sampling kit provided by the Dante Labs' Genetic for Everybody project.

People can use genomics not when they are sick, but before they get sick

Andrea Riposati, group chief executive of Dante Genomics

Once collected at the Silicon Oasis laboratory, the DNA contained in the saliva is analysed to create a full report.

Results can determine predispositions of the body, from potential illness to muscular and bone constitution.

The comprehensive analysis gives a clear view of metabolic and injury susceptibility, food intolerances and even the most suitable skincare routine, packed inside a unique genetic profile.

Andrea Riposati, group chief executive of Dante Genomics, said the technology has the potential to transform health care.

Genomics is at a similar stage to when the internet was first launched, he said.

It was first used by just a few people but would go on to change the world within a few years. The beauty of genomics is transforming the science into individual benefits and saving lives.

It can personalise how we eat and train to tailor our lives to live longer and healthier. People can use genomics not when they are sick, but before they get sick.

Andrea Riposati shows the sequencer machine in the Dante Labs at Silicon Oasis in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

The $6 million laboratory, which opened in January, has the capacity to analyse up to 1,000 samples a week but is currently processing about 300.

Saliva collection kits instruct the user to brush their teeth, then wait 30 minutes without eating, drinking or smoking before spitting into a tube.

Shaking the tube mixes it with a buffer solution, after which it is placed inside the return box provided and collection is arranged via email.

When the sample arrives at the lab, the DNA extraction begins inside a sequencing room known as The Temple to technicians. This is where the magic happens.

Sample DNA is turned into data, with one genome providing about 19 gigabytes of genetic information.

A supercomputer analyses that data and produces a report within a minute, creating a persons genetic health map or biomarkers that could indicate a red flag for potential disease.

Results are compiled into a report and returned securely via encrypted email within two to four weeks.

The challenge is transforming this massive amount of genomic data into genomic information which is easy to understand but also scientifically validated, said Mr Riposati.

You dont need to be a doctor to interpret the results.

Currently, people visit a doctor when they are sick and that can be too late in some cases.

This kind of test is like an insurance. By knowing what kind of drugs you will respond well to, physicians have more clarity of a course of treatment to deliver.

It is about getting a better knowledge about your own health.

The data is encrypted and anonymised, with personal information isolated in a separate database to the genetic data so there is no chance of identification.

Genomic sequencing and DNA extraction could solve one of the biggest puzzles facing mankind how to deal with antimicrobial resistance.

With the knowledge of the antibiotics someone is most likely to respond to, medics can deliver the most effective treatment rather than spin the wheel in the hope of finding an antibiotic that will destroy a bacterial infection.

Genes control the production of enzymes that metabolise drugs when we are ill. These enzymes influence how effective a drug could be, or what side effects may appear.

Our unique genotype reveals the volume of enzymes produced to break down medicine so it can be more easily absorbed.

It is only one of the many ways genetic information can be harnessed to improve healthcare decisions.

In April, Dante Labs was selected as the genetic testing provider for the Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Centre (ADSCC), where scientists will focus on cell therapy and regenerative medicine.

A joint programme was created to develop an mRNA vaccine platform to identify individual cancer treatments.

The nations Emirati Genome Programme is one of the worlds most ambitious.

It will explore the genetic make-up of Emiratis, using DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence to generate comprehensive, high-quality genomic data.

The resulting reference genome will pave the way for more personalised and preventive healthcare delivery for UAE citizens.

Sequencing takes place at the G42 Healthcare Omics Centre of Excellence in Masdar City.

We see the Emirates becoming more of a powerhouse and global hub for this kind of research, said Mr Riposati.

In the last 18 months, the sequencing of different Covid variants has really brought genomics to the forefront.

People have reacted differently to Covid and to the vaccines, which has shown how our genetic make-up impacts the way we respond to different triggers.

Updated: June 23, 2022, 5:16 AM

Original post:
This DNA testing kit could predict how you might die and show how to prevent it - The National

LeBron James is a brilliant example of rags to riches story. He was raised by his mother, Gloria, as she had LeBron when she was just 16. James had a tough childhood as he had to move around a lot with his mother who was trying to make ends meet. They changed houses multiple times. Gloria made sure she took care of her son as he had no father to look up to.

To this date, LeBron doesnt know who his father is. As a single mother, Gloria raised a child who has only gone on to become one of the greatest players of all time. As there was no information about LeBrons dad, one man tried to claim himself as his father. A long casefollowed, that included DNA tests of LeBron and his mother, which eventually culminated in 2011.

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The man, Leicester Bryce Stovell, suddenly appeared in the lives of LeBron James and Gloria more than two decades after the birth of the King. By this time, LeBron was already a superstar in the NBA and was earning millions. While his mother didnt want anything to do with Stovell, LeBron asked for a DNA test.

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The test proved that Stovell was not the father of LeBron, but Stovell felt the results had been tampered with. After this, Stovell sued LeBron and Gloria for $4 million on the grounds of fraud, defamation, and misrepresentation. The case was dismissed after months by the presiding judge.

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The Los Angeles Lakers forward is currently the only active billionaire in the NBA. He rose from nothing to become one of the most recognizable faces on the planet.

The credit for who LeBron is today is likely to be given to his mother, Gloria. She worked hard to make ends meet and she raised a future NBA champion. Off the court, LeBron is now the father of two sons and one daughter. He makes sure he actively participates in their lives because he knows what it was like to grow up without a father.

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WATCH THIS STORY: How much of Liverpool does LeBron own?

Do you think LeBron James will win another NBA title? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Link:
LeBron James Nearly Paid $4 Million Over a Failed DNA Test With an Impostor Claiming to Be His Father - EssentiallySports

Abigail Tweedales group embodied the genetic information thats in charge of the development and function of living organisms. They danced as if they were one, instead of parts of a whole, to Were All in This Together from High School Musical.

Youre dancing and Im killing Keira, Tweedale said as she directed the others during their recent rehearsal in 190 Alumni Arena.

Suddenly, Tweedale a lone cell was the focus of the performance. She turned around and Keira Olsen lay motionless on the floor. The other members of the group shuffled to Olsens side and dragged her dead body out of sight. Death is a common topic of conversation in this class about cells.

Dancing DNA: Embodying the Human Genome (DAC199) explores the commonalities between movements that occur at the molecular level in DNA and movements that exist in the whole body while experiencing and creating dance. The class is the brainchild of Jennifer Surtees, associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry, and Anne Burnidge, associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance, who aimed to use their diverse intellectual backgrounds in STEM and dance to increase scientific accessibility among students.

Surtees and Burnidge wanted to offer a creative course focusing on genomic literacy and the practical elements of dance. They integrated STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) learning into a first-year seminar in a way that builds community. The students in Dancing DNA represent the complex lives of cells in a dance number demonstrating the intricacies of cellular function. Its as if theyve brought an off-Broadway musical to UB.

Jennifer and I thought it would be a great way to get arts and humanities students who wouldnt normally enroll in a science class, Burnidge said, as well as STEM students who wouldnt normally enroll in a dance class, together in the same room, learning with and from each other.

Under the guidance of their professors, students learn different movements that represent scientific concepts while developing into better dancers. It allows them to experience the lesson in a three-dimensional space, rather than viewing the elements on paper.

Mikenna Bishop choreographed a complex interpretive dance that represented leukemia, where she played the role of a healthy cell and the rest of her group acted as the abnormal white blood cells in bone marrow. She chose leukemia because her mother had the disease.

Its important for first-year students to think more broadly about the ways they are learning, and Dancing DNA exposes them to new ways of developing knowledge, Burnidge explained. Exploring this in a course that blends the theoretical with experiential across two different fields allows students to see a bigger picture that is less about silos of knowledge and more about the integrated nature of learning.

The class has something to offer to all kinds of students: science-oriented, artistic or humanities-based, and those who do not identify with either sphere. They will be able to further develop their skills and knowledge without a predetermined expectation of proficiency. The exposure to creative ways of learning will deepen their knowledge of scientific concepts and artistic skills, Surtees and Burnidge said.

Before developing Dancing DNA, Burnidge had the opportunity to interpret the interdisciplinary concept as an interactive, dance installation at the Buffalo Museum of Science, sponsored by the Genome, Environment and Microbiome (GEM) Community of Excellence.

Just to give you an idea, the titles of the dance installations were Balance, Yogurt Dance, I like your microbiome, Wander Dawdle a dance about the gut microbiome, Bacteria Balls, Wild Fermentation and Dirt, Burnidge said.

The art exhibit took three years to develop. Burnidges collaborative project was comprised of choreography, songs, film and poems that used embodied research methods to explore and communicate concepts related to the human microbiome. Some of the themes included antibacterial resistance, pre- and pro-biotics, interactions of gut microbes, and the impact of the microbes in our physical environment on individual and public health.

Back at the Dancing DNA presentation, Brady Lock had to meet his untimely demise as a cell to end his group presentation. He glanced around the room and found that he was the last one standing. He looked up at the ceiling in despair and weakly reached up, before falling to his knees and fully collapsing.

An unfortunate fact of life, especially for a chromosome.

More:
Getting cultured through Dancing DNA - UBNow: News and views for UB faculty and staff - University at Buffalo

The ability to have earth-shattering orgasms is partially genetic, British researchers have uncovered meaning the capacity to climax comes down to your parents, as well as your partner.

The study which focused on female orgasms was initially published back in 2005 but is receiving renewed attention in light of the new film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. In the flick now streaming on Hulu Emma Thompson plays a 60-something woman who hires a sex worker, played by Daryl McCormack, to help her achieve her first-ever orgasm.

The study, which was conducted by St. Thomas Hospital in London and Keele University, quizzed 683 sets of identical twins and 714 sets of nonidentical twins between the ages of 19 and 83.

The women were asked two questions: Overall, how frequently do you experience an orgasm during intercourse? and How frequently do you experience an orgasm during masturbation by yourself or a partner?

Twenty-two percent of respondents claimed they had never or rarely experienced an orgasm during sex, while 21% said they never or rarely experienced a climax during a steamy solo session.

Researchers were interested in uncovering whether there was a difference in answers between the sets of identical and nonidentical twins.

Identical twins share a DNA code with each other, meaning the differences in their answers were likely a result of the different environments in which they were induced into orgasm.

Nonidentical twins, on the other hand, only share 50% of their DNA, meaning differences in their answers come down to genetics as well as the different environments in which they might come to orgasm.

Sure enough, the researchers found that genetic factors played an important role, accounting for up to 60% of a womans ability to reach the big O.

Despite the research revealing its not always a partner whos responsible for a persons pleasure, women are still faking orgasms.

Research published earlier this year in the journal ofSocial Psychological and Personality Sciencecollected data from over 600 women, many of whom admitted to forsaking their own erotic pleasure in order to placate men.

Women are prioritizing what they think their partners need over their own sexual needs and satisfaction, lead study author Jessica Jordan, a doctoral student at the University of South Florida, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Thompson, 63, said last week that Good Luck to You, Leo Grande examines the orgasm gap between men and women.

Ive always been interested in the sort of ostracization really of sexual sort of matters. We dont talk about it nearly enough, she stated. And female sexual pleasure is not on the top of anybodys list.

Read more:
Great orgasms are inherited from your parents: DNA experts - New York Post

In October 2019, Jordan Janz became the first person in the world to receive an experimental therapy for cystinosis, a rare genetic disease. The treatment was physically grueling. Doctors extracted blood stem cells from Janzs bone marrow and genetically modified them in a lab. Meanwhile, he underwent chemotherapy to clear out the remaining faulty cells in his bone marrow before he got the newly modified ones. The chemo gave Janz sores in his mouth so painful that he couldnt eat. He lost his head full of pale-blond hair.

But Janz, then a 20-year-old from Alberta, Canada, had signed up for this because he knew that cystinosis was slowly killing him. The mutated gene behind this disease was causing toxic crystals of a molecule called cystine to build up everywhere in his body. He threw up constantly as a kid. Visible crystals accumulated in his eyes. And his kidneys were now failing. Cystinosis patients live, on average, to 28.5 years old.

Fortunately, the experimental gene therapy seemed to work; Janz began to feel better. His hair grew back in a stubble, but to his shock, it came in a different color: dark, almost black. In the two and half years since, his hair has settled into a dark blond, which is still markedly different from the almost white blond of before. My girlfriend actually said the other day that she feels like shes dating a different person, Janz told me.

Of all the things the experimental gene therapy was expected to altersuch as the severity of his cystinosis symptomshair color was not one of them. That was very surprising, Stephanie Cherqui, a stem-cell scientist at UC San Diego and the principal investigator of the gene-therapy trial, told me. But as she and her colleagues dug into the literature on the disease, they found that darker hair wasnt a sign of something going awry; instead it might be a very visible sign of the gene therapy working.

Doctors had observed years ago that cystinosis patients tend to be paler than their families. Manythough certainly not allhave blond hair and pale skin. One study in mice found that the gene thats mutated in cystinosis patients normally plays a role in the production of the dark-brown pigment melanin. Janz had always been a bit self-conscious about how pale he was. His whole family is pretty pale, Janz said. But I'm, like, a whole different paleor I was. The hair change, as far as hes concerned, was a nice surprise.

But how did genetically modifying his blood cells change his hair color? While the mutation that causes cystinosis affects virtually every cell in his body, gene therapy did not change the DNA of every cell in his body, only a tiny fraction of them. Scientists chose to genetically tweak blood stem cells because they have a special ability: Some eventually become white blood cells, which travel to all different parts of the body, Jeffrey Medin, who studies gene therapy at the Medical College of Wisconsin, told me. White blood cells normally go into all our different tissues and organs to patrol for pathogens.

Janzs new white blood cells were genetically modified to express the gene that is mutated in cystinosis, called CTNS. Once they traveled to his eyes, skin, and gut, the white blood cells began pumping out the missing protein encoded by the gene. Cells in the area began taking up the protein and clearing away long-accumulated cystine crystals. In Janz, the anti-cystine proteins from his modified blood cells must have reached the hair follicles in his skin. There, they cleared out the excess cystine that was blocking normal melanin production, and his hair got darker. The same phenomenon has played out in other people: So far in the gene-therapy trial, four of the five patientsall of whom are whitehave gotten darker hair. (The fifth patients hair is just starting to grow back post-therapy.) The investigators have since added hair biopsies to the trial in order to track the color changes in a more systematic fashion.

The sudden hair-color changes were surprising to Cherqui and her colleagues, but they are consistent with the role of the cystinosis gene in hair pigments, says Robert Ballotti, a melanin researcher at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research. But he has also found that pigmentation and cystinosis can interact in unexpected ways. Not all people with cystinosis are pale, and in particular, Black patients tend not to have skin or hair that is any lighter. Maybe there is not a strict correlation between the gravity of the disease and pigmentation, Ballotti says.

Hair color is one way in which patients in the clinical trial are teaching scientists about the full scope of the CTNS gene, which is still not fully understood. Cherqui had helped discover the gene, as a graduate student more than 20 years ago, and her research has hinted at other functions for it in cell growth and survival, too. More and more, we understand that there are many functions of the protein that we didn't know, she said.

Thats why patients on the standard treatment, a drug called cysteamine, still get sicker and die of their disease, Cherqui said. Removing cystine is not enough. It doesnt help that cysteamine has some pretty nasty side effects: It causes stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea. When Janz was very young, he needed a stomach tube to get the medication around the clock. Cysteamine also has a rotten, fishlike smell. I had a lot of difficult times as a younger kid, says Jacob Seachord, another patient in the trial whose hair went from blond to brown. I smelled really bad from medication, so I didn't make a lot of friends.

Gene therapy actually replaces the missing protein, theoretically filling in all of its functions, known and unknown. All five patients in the gene-therapy trial have gone off their oral cysteamine, and preliminary data show they now have fewer cystine crystals in their eyes, skin, and gut. Their vision has gotten slightly better, too. But improvements in kidney function are more elusive. Seachord had a kidney transplant before the gene therapy and is doing well. Janz had advanced kidney disease before the trial, and he will need a kidney transplant in a few months.

For adults with cystinosis, Cherqui said, it may be too late for gene therapy to help their kidneys. They have already accumulated a lifetime of kidney damage from cystine. Gene therapy cant reverse the damage thats been done, but we can correct it going forward, Medin said. We can stop progression. In diseases like cystinosis, patients may have to get gene therapy at a young age, probably before 10, Cherqui said. If it works, a future kid who has cystinosis might be cured through gene therapypreventing them from needing a lifetime of cysteamine or a kidney transplant. And it just might change their hair color, too.

See the original post here:
An Experimental Gene Therapy Changed His DNAAnd His Hair Color - The Atlantic

CHOCTAW COUNTY, Okla. Some readers might find details from this investigation disturbing.

Agents with the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation have arrested a Choctaw County woman in connection to a nearly 30-year-old cold case.

53-year-old Meaonia Michelle Allen turned herself in this month, fulfilling an outstanding warrant for first-degree murder with deliberate intent. A judge denied Allen bond.

Investigators say Allen killed her newborn baby in 1993 and dumped the body in rural Choctaw County. At the time, the Choctaw County Sheriffs Office contacted OSBI for assistance. An autopsy revealed that the baby was born alive and was killed after its throat was slashed.

Baby Does case went cold after nearly three decades. In 2020, an OSBI agent worked with the Cold Case Unit to submit the babys DNA to Parabon Nanolabs, a company that specializes in using genetic material to solve crimes.

The results gave investigators leads, which pointed them in Allens direction. After additional testing, Allen admitted to giving birth to the baby. She also admitted to killing the infant.

At the time of babys birth, Allen was working at a daycare center. She did not tell anyone about the pregnancy.

The synergy between our agents and criminalists to solve cold cases, especially those with an unidentified victim, is to be applauded, said Ricky Adams, OSBI Director. Identifying the use of genetic genealogy as a tool and the work of Parabon and our internal genealogy specialist provided significant leads in this disturbing case. Baby Doe can now be properly laid to rest and his killer will be held accountable.

2022 Cox Media Group

Read more here:
DNA testing leads to arrest of Oklahoma woman accused of killing her baby - KOKI FOX 23 TULSA

Spyrou et al. 2022

In 1338 and 1339, people were dying in droves in the villages around Lake Issyk-Kulin whats now northern Kyrgyzstan. Many of the tombstones from those years blame the deaths on a generic pestilence. According to a recent study of ancient bacterial DNA from the victims teeth, the pestilence that swept through the Kyrgyz villages was Yersinia pestisthe same pathogen that would cause the devastating Black Death in Europe just a few years later.

In just five years, bubonic plague killed at least 75 million people in the Middle East, northern Africa, and Europe. Known as the Black Death, the cataclysm of 1346-1352 is still the most deadly pandemic in human history. But the Black Death was only the first devastating wave of what historians call the second plague pandemic: a centuries-long period in which waves of Y. pestis periodically burned through communities or whole regions. When English diarist Samuel Pepys wrote about the Great Plague of London in 1666, he was describing a later wave of the same pandemic that began in the mid-1300s with the Black Death. Centuries of life with the reality of the plague actually shaped the genetic diversity of modern European populations.

And like every pandemic, the second plague pandemic had to start somewhere.

Today, we know that the second plague pandemic reached Europe around 1348 aboard ships arriving in Italy from a Genoese trading colony called Kaffa (now the city of Theodosia) on the Black Sea. But the pandemic was already well underway by the time it spread to Europe.

Based on what we know about the ecology of Y. pestis, which spreads through the bites (and vomit) of infected fleas, historys most devastating pandemic began when fleas jumped from their usual hostswild rodents such as marmotsto humans. Researchers have used historical records and genetic evidence to try to pinpoint where and when that spillover happened. So far, though, estimates span the whole breadth of Asia and a period of at least 150 years.

Two villages in northern KyrgyzstanKara-Djigach and Buranaare compelling places to look. The timing fits; an unnamed pestilence killed unusually large numbers of people in the area just a few years before the Black Death struck Europe. And the location also makes sense; the area around Lake Issyk-Kul, called the Chy Valley, had trade connections across Eurasia, making it a perfect crossroads for people, goods, and infectious disease.

Spyrou et al. 2022

To test the idea, archaeologist Maria Spyrou of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and her colleagues needed to find out what had actually killed the victims of whatever was spreading in 1338-1339. So they sampled tissue from the teeth of seven pestilence victims and sequenced all of the DNA present in the teeth. That included not only human DNA from the victims but also DNA from bacteria they were carrying when they died.

When you die with a bacterial infection raging in your bloodstream, those bacteria leave their DNA and proteins behind in parts of your skeleton, especially bone marrow and tooth pulp. Archaeologists have used that fact to find ancient plague DNA at sites across Eurasia and recently to diagnose tuberculosis in a casualty of Mt. Vesuvius 79 CE eruption.

In Kyrgyzstan, Spyrou and her colleagues found segments of DNA from Yersinia pestis in the teeth of three people buried in the cemeteries around Lake Issyk-Kul; their tombstones said they had died during 1338 and 1339. Thats enough to link the previously unnamed 1338-1339 pestilence to the plague.

Spyrou et al. 2022

Excerpt from:
Ancient DNA points to where the Black Death began - Ars Technica

24 Jun 2022 --- A team of biotechnology and blockchain specialists in Greece are using olive oil DNA to generate a fraud-proof genetic barcode for each bottle. With funding from European research and innovation project S3FOOD, the move is expected to minimize food fraud across extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).

The digital tool will safeguard the authenticity and traceability of EVOO from the field. For producers, it means cheaper imitations will no longer undercut the value of high-end products.

Consumers can trust that the EVOO in the bottle lives up to the designation on the label and is safe to consume.

Biodiversity benefits and beyondAs authentic EVOO gains the recognition it deserves, growers will have a greater incentive to protect the biodiversity of olive tree varieties.

The digital tool will safeguard the authenticity and traceability of EVOO all the way from the field.Stelios Arhondakis is CEO of BioCoS, which is working with technology partner InTTrust to develop the anti-fraud traceability tool DNAblockchain.

The high risk of fraud in the olive oil industry is very much related to the products economic value, fragmented supply chain and liquid nature. A recent study has found that the value of a premium EVOO may be reduced by 50%, he says.

Olive oil fraud takes many forms. In 2019, for example, Europol seized 150 metric tons of sunflower oil, which the label claimed to be olive oil. Another case involved 47 millers, two bottlers and traders who sold oil with a fake EVOO Protected Geographical Location (PGI) label.

Traceability from tree to consumerBioCoS is establishing DNA profiles for specific olive varieties used to produce EVOO to counter the problem. One type Koroneiki accounts for around 60% of Greek EVOO production.

An intelligent data processing platform uses DNA data to verify the varietal authenticity of EVOO. This information is then integrated into a blockchain system along with other data, such as quality characteristics, the location of the olive grove and the quantity of EVOO produced.

The whole traceable story will be available to consumers via a QR code on the EVOO bottle.

Blockchain is already widely used in the olive oil sector to track and trace each lot number from the oil manufacturer to the consumer. However, the limitation of this approach is that it ensures only the traceability of the bottle not its content.

DNA-blockchain bridges this gap, making it impossible to mix olive oil with other varieties or other types of vegetable oil without being discovered. So, if you add 3-5% olive oil from a Greek variety to an Italian product, you would be able to trace it via DNA analysis. That gives complete transparency, Arhondakis says.

In addition to the benefits for commercial brands and food safety, the DNA data can be used to create a geo-genetic map of olive growers producing EVOO. Arhondakis believes this could become an essential resource for future efforts to improve the sustainability of olive cultivation and mitigate climate change risks.

Edited by Elizabeth Green

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S3FOOD's DNA and blockchain technology cancels food fraud in extra virgin olive oil - Food Ingredients First