Category Archives: DNA

DNA evidence from a welding glove left at the scene of a 2020 burglary in Delmont led to the arrest of a Washington Township man on Monday.

Jesse T. Noble, 26, was charged with burglary, receiving stolen property, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and possession of instruments of crime in connection with a December 2020 burglary at Fletchers Outdoor Equipment on Route 66.

On Dec. 4, 2020, Delmont police responded to a burglar alarm at Fletchers and arrived to find a door at the back of the building with a smoking hole in it that appeared to have been made by some kind of welding torch.

Officers followed boot prints from Fletchers to the woods behind the building, where they found that a generator, saw and two chain saws had been taken from the business. They also found a welding torch and black welding gloves and were able to confirm the use of a torch through security video from Fletchers. A Westmoreland County K-9 helped officers track the boot prints across Route 66 back to a home on the 300 block of Freeport Street, where it appeared the thief had gotten into a vehicle and left.

During the investigation, Delmont officers received a call from nearby Washington Township police, who had just arrested a suspect Noble matching the description of the man who had broken into Fletchers. Delmont police went to Nobles house on Spring Hill Road in Washington, where officers saw several torch welding cables in plain view next to the house, along with boot prints similar in design and tread to those at the scene of the burglary.

A search warrant for Nobles home turned up boots and clothing matching the burglar in the security footage, and officers also seized a set of welding cables. Security footage from a nearby church in Delmont, as well as from license plate recognition readers in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, appeared to link Nobles vehicle to the scene.

Finally, DNA testing matched Nobles DNA to a sample found inside the left welding glove recovered from Fletchers.

Delmont police Chief T.J. Klobucar said he appreciated the patience Fletchers had as the case progressed.

Sometimes it takes time and investigation, gathering evidence so we can make a solid arrest like this, Klobucar said.

Noble was arraigned Monday and faces an April 5 preliminary hearing in District Judge Charles Conways Export court.

Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Patrick at 724-850-2862, pvarine@triblive.com or via Twitter .

See original here:
DNA from welding glove leads to arrest of Delmont break-in suspect - TribLIVE

The New York City Police Department surreptitiously took DNA samples from more than 30,000 people and kept them in a database, a lawsuit from the Legal Aid Society shows.

Once the DNA profiles are stored in the database, the department uses them in genetic lineups, comparing them to samples from previous and future crimes.

The legal advocacy group has filed a federal lawsuit demanding the NYPD removes the DNA profiles and eliminate the database, which attorneys say disproportionately targets Black and brown people.

A bag to collect forensic evidence is seen as the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner hosts DNA Extraction demonstration on Sept. 6, 2018, to unveil groundbreaking technology allowing OCME to test degraded DNA samples. (Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)

Thousands of New Yorkers, most of whom are Black and brown, and many of whom have never been convicted of any crime, are illegally in the Citys rogue DNA database, which treats people as suspects in every crime involving DNA, Phil Desgranges, a supervising lawyer in Legal Aid Societys Special Litigation Unit of the Criminal Defense Practice, said.

State law requires police to get a court order or a conviction before someones DNA can be kept in a state database. However, New York Citys Local DNA Index System includes DNA from more than 31,800 people who were questioned or arrested but never convicted.

NYPD detectives are instructed to offer water, soda, gum, food, or a cigarette to secure DNA samples for testing. Given that 75 percent of the people arrested in the city over the past decade reportedly have been Black or Latino, The New York Times estimates that the database most likely reflects the same racial makeup.

The NYPD said the database is vital in solving crime. Civil rights advocates say potential errors could increase the chances of wrongful convictions.

You can change your Social Security number if youre a victim of identity theft. You cant change your DNA, Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, told the paper. Youre creating this constant threat not for months, not for years, but the rest of your life, that you can be targeted by this information.

Story continues

One of the plaintiffs, Shakira Leslie, alleges she was traveling in a friends car when police found a gun in another passengers bag during a traffic stop. Leslie was arrested and taken to the station for questioning, where after several hours, detectives offered her a cup of water.

She was released and a gun possession charge against her was dropped. Leslie told reporters she was shocked to find out later that police used the cup to collect her DNA.

I completely lost trust for NYPD, Leslie said.

After a sample is collected by detectives, it is stored by the medical examiners office in the database. The medical examiners office said it operates according to scientific standards and the law.

The NYPD announced plans in February 2020 to discard samples more than two years old if the person is not part of an investigation or convicted of a crime. Legal Aid accused the city of moving at snails pace.

Politico reports that even though more than 1,000 samples were removed from the database a year later, another 2,849 were added. The New York Times reports that 4,000 profiles have been removed since 2020.

NYPD also promised to limit the DNA collection from minors, who currently only have DNA taken if theyre suspected of serious offenses. The New York City Council is reportedly expected to reconsider a 2020 measure that would prevent police from obtaining DNA samples from minors without an adults consent.

NYPD officials in 2019 said the process helped solve about 5,000 crimes in five years.

The driving motivation for the NYPD to collect DNA is to legally identify the correct perpetrator, build the strongest case possible for investigators and our partners in the various prosecutors offices and bring closure to victims and their families, NYPD spokesperson Sgt. Edward Riley said.

Legal Aid has named the city, the police department and the medical examiners office in the lawsuit. The group fears the database also lacks independent oversight.

This database operates virtually unchecked, and despite promises from the city to reduce its size, the database has continued to grow at the expense of communities of color, Desgranges said. We simply cannot trust the NYPD to police itself, and we look forward to judicial review of these destructive practices to bring our clients the justice they deserve.

More crime-fighting technology may be on the way for New Yorkers.

New York Mayor Eric Adams has proposed the use of facial recognition tools amid rising crime in the city. Adams announced the proposal in his plan in January to target gun violence. Facial recognition works by matching stills from video footage to images already in a database.

More here:
Lawsuit: NYPD Secretly Collected DNA from Tens of Thousands of People and Stored It, Violating Unwitting Donors Constitutional Rights - Yahoo News

All those movie Batmen have the impressive costumery and in some cases the cool, bat-based toys and those pricey Batcave living quarters, and sometimes there even are some actual bats hovering aboutbut as far as I can recall, none of em has ever injected himself with actual bat DNA like Dr. Michael Morbius. I mean, talk about a guy who has earned the twisted right to call himself Batman!

But hes not The Batman, hes the titular character of Morbius, a second-tier MCU movie with some interesting performances and a few flashes of inspiration that unfortunately never goes deeper than superficial storytelling and grows increasingly tiresome over the relatively brief running time (1 hour, 48 minutes) before it reaches a predictable, underwhelming conclusion. (Even the two brief mid-credits scenes teasing the further adventures of Morbius are less than stirring.)

Jared Leto, who has never met an accent, a wig, a prosthetic, a dramatic weight loss or a Method role he couldnt sink his teeth into, actually plays it somewhat straightforward and grounded as Michael Morbius, a brilliant scientist who invented an artificial blood that has saved more lives than penicillin, or so were told at a Nobel Prize ceremony. (Distractingly, another character calls it the Noble Prize, not once, but twice, in the next scene.)

Looking like hes been pounding at deaths door since last winter, Michael is suffering from a rare and fatal blood disease, and despite the financial backing of his lifelong friend Milo (Matt Smith), who has the same condition, Michael been unable to come up with a cureand time is running out for the both of them.

Cue the bats! As Michael explains to his longtime associate and potential love interest, Dr. Martine Bancroft (Adria Arjona), certain types of bats are the only creatures that can survive by consuming only blood, so if Morbius injects himself with vampire bat DNA, maybe thatll fix him up real good! (Man, I dont know. Even the likes of Seth Brundle from The Fly and Dr. Norman Osborn aka Green Goblin might think that was a bat-bleep crazy idea.)

With Milos backing, Michael builds a lab on a tanker that will sail international waters off the East Coast (what with this process being illegal and all), with Martine onboard to aid with the experiment and a bunch of armed henchmen along for the ride in case things go awry.

Spoiler alert: Things go awry.

Within moments of receiving the injection, Michael is transformed into a howling, fanged, clawed, bloodthirsty beast who wreaks havoc before jumping off the ship and returning to New York City. (Manchester, Englands, Northern Quarter doubles for New York, but theres never a certain sense of place and time about this film. It seems self-contained and smallish. We never get the sense the good people of New York are truly interconnected with The Vampire Murderer, the lackluster term assigned to Michael by the tabloid press.)

Michaels transformation and subsequent, periodical returns to normal human form seem more wolfman-like than vampiric, as he doesnt have the usual aversion to sunlight, fear of garlic or holy water, etc., etc. For the time being, Michael is able to sustain himself on artificial blood, but the window in which he remains human is tightening, meaning its only a matter of time before hell have to resort to guzzling the real deal.

Ah, but Michaels old friend Milo has no such moral qualms. Against Michaels warnings, Milo has injected himself with the vampire bat DNAand he immediately turns into a killing machine who embraces his role as a super-sucking, super-villain. Dancing about with a hairdo and wardrobe that conjures up images of David Bowie in his Lets Dance period, bellowing statements such as, I am resurrected!, Matt Smith as Milo gives a terrifically over-the-top performancebut theres never any explanation for why Michael would be so conflicted and torn about his transformation, whereas Milo would suddenly turn into a psychopath. He seemed like a really good guy before he, you know, shot up bat DNA.

Morbius friend Milo (Matt Smith) embraces villainy after a transformation of his own.

The great Jared Harris does what he can with an underwritten role as Emil Nikols, the obligatory Kindly Mentor to both Milo and Michael, while Tyrese Gibson and Al Madrigal are stuck playing cynical, bantering NYPD detectives who ask questions straight out of the Law & Order playbook and are always showing up at the scene of the crime and shaking their heads at the carnage.

As for the action sequences: When Michael Morbius flies around the city, he often leaves a smoky trail of blue or orange in wake, like a gender reveal where they ordered the wrong colors, and the big finale is shot in dizzying closeups, edited in headache-inducing fashion and is often murky. It looks like Morbius might soon cross paths with Spider-Man in one universe or another, but that would be a big step up for him, because his introductory vehicle feels more like a just-average 1990s vampire movie.

View post:
Morbius review: Even with Jared Leto and bat DNA injections, second-tier Marvel movie never takes off - Chicago Sun-Times

Gingko Bioworks (NYSE:DNA) stock is up more than 10% today after its latest earnings report.

Source: Yurchanka Siarhei/Shutterstock

Ginkgo Bioworks reported that its fourth-quarter 2021 revenue increased 363% year over year to $148 million, which beat the $94 million forecast of Wall Street analysts. However, the company reported a net loss from operations of $1.7 billion.

Still, the company guided that its expects full-year 2022 revenue to be between $325 million and $340 million. This also came in higher than analyst estimates of $306 million. Ginkgo Bioworks is focused on building a platform to enable customers to program cells as easily as computers.

Year to date, DNA stock is down 57%. Heres where three analysts see the share price headed in coming months.

DNA stock is rising today on strong forward guidance and an improving financial picture at the tiny biotechnology firm. Among seven professional analysts who cover the company, the median price target on the shares is $12, implying 180% upside over the next 12 months.

On the date of publication, Joel Baglole did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.

Joel Baglole has been a business journalist for 20 years. He spent five years as a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and has also written for The Washington Post and Toronto Star newspapers, as well as financial websites such as The Motley Fool and Investopedia.

Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2022/03/is-dna-stock-a-buy-after-earnings-3-analysts-weigh-in-on-gingko-bioworks/.

2022 InvestorPlace Media, LLC

See the rest here:
Is DNA Stock a Buy After Earnings? 3 Analysts Weigh In on Gingko Bioworks. - InvestorPlace

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Fertility Test Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

In-depth Analysis and Data-driven Insights on the Impact of COVID-19 Included in this Global Fertility Test Market Report.

The growing awareness about fertility test and greater access to treatment is one of the major factors driving the global fertility test market growth. Fertility test industry is growing at a healthy rate during the forecast period.

Over the past few years, the fertility test industry has been growing at a healthy rate on account of rising awareness regarding fertility testing, increasing maternal age of women in developed and developing regions, rapidly increasing infertility population across the globe, and awareness among the adult population.

According to this market research report the fertility test market by revenue is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 7% during the period 2022-2027.

The Ovulation test kit segment dominate the market with high market share. Smart Phone based sperm analysis is an emerging trend in the global fertility test market. Use of AI in sperm analysis will boost the market growth.

Based on distribution channels, the market is segmented into online sales channels, retail pharmacies, and hospitals pharmacies. In 2021, the online sales channel segment witnessed the highest market growth and is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 7% during the forecast period.

Vendor Analysis

The fertility test kit manufacturers are trying to achieve a high market share with different revenue generation strategies. Some of the sperm test kit manufacturing companies include swim count, advacare, DNA Diagnostics Centre, Hamilton Thorne, Home Health, Give Legacy. These companies deliver high-quality sperm test kits in domestic and international markets, and will achieve a higher share in the upcoming time in the fertility test market.

Prominent Vendors

The Report Includes:

1. The analysis of the global fertility test market provides market size and growth rate for the forecast period 2022-2027.

2. It offers comprehensive insights into current industry trends, trend forecast, and growth drivers about the global fertility test market.

3. The report provides the latest analysis of market share, growth drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities.

4. It offers a complete overview of market segments and the regional outlook of the global fertility test market.

5. The report offers a detailed overview of the vendor landscape, competitive analysis, and critical market strategies to gain competitive advantage.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Research Methodology

2 Research Objectives

3 Research Process

4 Scope & Coverage

4.1 Market Definition

4.2 Base Year

4.3 Scope of the Study

5 Report Assumptions & Caveats

5.1 Key Caveats

5.2 Currency Conversion

5.3 Market Derivation

6 Market at a Glance

7 Introduction

7.1 Overview

8 Market Opportunities & Trends

8.1 Technological Advances in Male Fertility Tests

8.2 Smartphone-Based Sample Analysis

9 Market Growth Enablers

9.1 Increasing Maternal Age

9.2 Surge in Infertility Rates Worldwide

9.3 Rising Awareness of Fertility Tests

10 Market Restraints

10.1 Lack of Accuracy in Available Fertility Tests

10.2 Low Awareness & Acceptance of Fertility Tests

11 Market Landscape

11.1 Market Overview

11.2 Market Size & Forecast

11.3 Five Forces Analysis

12 Products

12.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine

12.2 Market Overview

12.3 Ovulation Test Kits

12.4 Fertility Monitors

12.5 Sperm Test Kits

13 Gender

13.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine

13.2 Market Overview

13.3 Female

13.4 Male

14 Distribution Channels

14.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine

14.2 Market Overview

14.3 Online Sale Channels

14.4 Retail Pharmacies

14.5 Hospital Pharmacies

15 End-users

15.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine

15.2 Market Overview

15.3 Homecare

15.4 Specialty & Fertility Clinics

15.5 Hospitals

16 Geography

16.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine

16.2 Geographic Overview

17 North America

18 Europe

19 Apac

20 Latin America

21 Middle East & Africa

22 Competitive Landscape

22.1 Competition Overview

22.2 Market Share Analysis

23 Company Profiles

24 Report Summary

24.1 Key Takeaways

24.2 Strategic Recommendations

25 Quantitative Summary

26 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bf1zsn.

Excerpt from:
Global Fertility Test Market (2022 to 2027) - Featuring DNA Diagnostics Center, Lady Technologies and OOVA Among Others - ResearchAndMarkets.com -...

Ralph Musson survived the Bataan Death March in the Philippines 80 years ago this April, enduring the brutal trek as hundreds of his fellow soldiers perished along the way.

Akron relative Jay Musson knows that much about the relative he never met. He also knows his cousin twice removed died later in a prison camp, succumbing to malaria on June 30, 1942.

It's a slice of family history Jay Musson learned by chance, all because of a call out of the blue two years ago, requesting his DNA to help identify Ralph Mussons remains.

An Army contract genealogist was looking for live DNA (from) relatives, Musson said in a recent interview.

The phone call set in motion a continuing search for his relatives story.

Along the way, Musson uncovered Ralph Mussons deep Akron ties in the years before his death in the Cabanatuan Prisoner of War Camp, where a young pilot with a love of music was tossed in a common grave with others who died in the camp.

Jay Mussons DNA sample and two others collected from Massachusettsrelatives of Ralph Musson led to what are believed to be the WWII soldiers remains being sent to Hawaii. There,the militarys top DNA detectives will work to positively identify the set.

As the 80th anniversary of his relatives death approaches, Musson hopes the relocation will lead to Ralph Mussons remains being verified, allowing him to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Its an absolutely heartbreaking story of what happened to him, Musson said.

Ralph Mussons father lived in Mogadore and attended the University of Akron before moving to Massachusetts for medical school. His aunt, however, remained in Akron.

In the summers, Ralph Musson and his sister would stay with their aunt in Akron, taking trips with her and occasionally appearing on the society pages of local newspapers. One year, Musson said, she took her nephew to Europe.

Ralph was raised in a musical family, Musson said.

He went on to study music at Oberlin Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College, but world events were out of tune with his college goals and he was drawn into the conflict that became World War II.

As tensions between Japan and the U.S. intensified, Ralph Musson put aside his musical ambitions. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entered World War II, he was stationed in the Philippines, less than 2,000 miles from the the land of the Rising Sun.

Military records show that 2nd Lt. Ralph Musson entered the military on Dec. 30, 1940.

He went into the (military)to fly planes, Musson said. He went to train as a dive-bomber pilot.

The young pilot was sent to the Philippines and stationed on Luzon, the nation's largest and most populous island,as part of a buildup of forces as war tensions grew. When war came after the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese turned their attention to Luzon.

But the U.S. and Filipino forces were unprepared. Planes hadnt been delivered to airmen on the island, and when a ground assault began on Dec. 22, the pilots became infantry.

They knew the Philippines was going to fall, so they diverted (the) planes to Australia, Musson said. He was screwed.

Ralph Musson and the 12,000 U.S and 63,000 Filipino soldiers were ordered by Gen. Douglas MacArthur to retreat to the Bataan Peninsula, and a long battle raged from Jan. 7 to April 9. The surrender of the U.S.-led force was the largest since the Civil War and the 60-mile Bataan Death March began, with hundreds of U.S. troops and thousands of Filipino POWs dying along the way.

They got up against the sea and they all surrendered, Musson said. The Japanese felt that these Americans and Filipinos were all cowards who deserved to die. Thats why they didnt have any food, they didnt have any water.

Ralph Musson survived the infamous march, but at Camp Cabanatuan, he contracted malaria. The enemy was not concerned with American burial practices or traditions.

Theyd (bury) 30 guys in a hole, Musson said.

Efforts to identify Ralph Mussons remains are similar those made to successfully confirm the remains of a Barberton sailor, Buford Dyer.

Dyer was on board the USS Oklahoma when it was attacked in Pearl Harbor, and it wasnt until last year that his remains were identified using DNA technology. Previous attempts ended with Dyers remains being classified as unrecoverable.

For Ralph Musson, the process has been similar, with initial efforts to identify his remains ending more than 70 years ago.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, however, has been using DNA to successfully identify hundreds of individuals killed in action and is conducting an ongoing project to evaluate evidence related to Cabanatuan POW cases.

When Musson sent his DNA swab to investigators, it helped satisfy requirements for a disinterment of remains. The process was approved Sept. 15, and the remains were sent to Hawaii.

Musson expects another wait before he and Ralph Mussons other relatives learn if military experts can identify the young pilots remains. The answer will be one more piece of the 80-year-old mystery and help preserve Ralph Mussons legacy. His relatives in Massachusetts, like Musson,knew little about him before the process began.

They said they saw his pictures at Ralphs mothers house, he said. There was a picture of him on the wall, and thats about all they knew.

Musson said he feels a deep connection to the relative he never met.

The Akron resident was drafted in 1966, went on active duty in February 1967, and was sent to Vietnam on April 1, 1968.

He saw heavy fighting in the Mekong Valley, the location of some of most brutal fighting in the war. Jay Musson was injured in the knee and was awarded a Purple Heart. He said he suffered more long-term damage from post-traumatic stress disorder than his injury.

His license plate, a half-century later, reads SHOT4U.

With the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, Musson began delving into his family history and uncovering at least 20 family members who served in the U.S. military. The roots run back to the French and Indian War, before there was a United States, and the Revolutionary War.

But Ralph Mussons case has consumed him the most, Musson said.

What I always worried about happening to me happened to him, Musson said.

Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.

Read the original here:
Akron veteran seeks answers in WWII death of a relative he never knew - Akron Beacon Journal

The driving motivation for the NYPD to collect DNA is to legally identify the correct perpetrator, build the strongest case possible for investigators and our partners in the various prosecutors offices and bring closure to victims and their families, he said.

The city medical examiners office, which maintains the database, said that it complies with applicable laws and is operated with the highest scientific standards, set by independent accrediting bodies.

The dispute underscores tensions that have erupted in cities across the country over efforts to increase the use of technology and surveillance tactics in policing and comes amid a highly charged local debate over elevated gun violence. In New York, Mayor Eric Adams has called for expanding the use of facial recognition and software to identify gun carriers, which he argues could aid in crime fighting.

But civil liberties advocates and privacy groups have contended that the advancements come at the expense of communities of color, infringe on the rights of people who have not been convicted of crimes and place them at risk of wrongful conviction if errors are made.

You can change your Social Security number if youre a victim of identity theft. You cant change your DNA, said Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. Youre creating this constant threat not for months, not for years, but the rest of your life, that you can be targeted by this information.

The genetic database has come under fire in recent years for the tactics the police use to collect DNA samples, often without a persons consent, lawyers say. The departments Detective Guide instructs detectives to offer a water bottle, soda, cigarette, gum or food to someone being questioned in connection with a crime whose DNA is sought and to collect the item once they leave.

Those practices have invited scrutiny in high-profile cases, like when detectives offered a McDonalds soda to a 12-year-old boy who was facing a felony charge in 2018, took the straw and tested it for DNA. The boys profile did not match crime-scene evidence but remained in the system for over a year.

Read more:
This Database Stores the DNA of 31,000 New Yorkers. Is It Illegal? - The New York Times

CW: This article contains mentions of sexual violence.

DNA forensics first transformed the criminal justice system when police overseas verified a homicide confession with fingerprinting back decades ago.

In cases of sexual assault, survivors can receive a sexual assault forensic exam, or a rape kit, which preserves DNA evidence that survivors may use to report to police or, if they so choose, aid in the criminal prosecution of an assailant.

But what happens when DNA from a sexual assault survivor is used against them?

Earlier this year, DNA from a rape kit tied a San Fransisco woman to a property crime five years after she experienced a sexual assault.

This evidence came from a genetic code database used by city law enforcement included DNA from sexual assault survivors to identify and prosecute crime suspects, a practice that the citys district attorney, Chesa Boudin, deems a gross invasion of privacy.

This practice treats victims like evidence, not human beings, said Boudin, calling it a legal and ethical civil rights violation.

California Senator Scott Wiener agrees. Wiener believes that the DNA collected from sexual assault survivors should only be used for investigating the perpetrator of the assault, rather than misused for other purposes.

On March 8, Wiener amended Senate Bill 1228 (SB 1228) to the California legislature, which would ban using the DNA profiles of sexual assault survivors for anything besides investigating the incident of sexual violence.

Although federal law prohibits the use of survivor samples in the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), there is no California law that bans local law enforcement from retaining DNA profiles of sexual assault survivors and using the DNA for independent purposes.

In the United States, someone is sexually assaulted every 68 seconds. Unfortunately, many survivors of sexual assault do not report, many times because survivors fear retaliation or distrust the criminal justice system.

In a world where sexual assault is wildly underreported, introducing SB 1228 is meant to protect survivors of sexual assault who do choose to report to hospitals and police by receiving a rape kit examination.

If survivors believe their DNA may end up being used against them in the future, theyll have one more reason not to participate in the rape kit process, said Wiener in a San Fransisco District Attorneys Office press release earlier this month.

Sophie Pollack, a USC sophomore studying sociology, advocates for sexual assault survivors through A Path 2 Courage, a grassroots organization Pollack created in 2020.

As a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault herself, she believes that its essential to support the passure of SB 1228.

It is extremely important to have SB 1228 become a law, said Pollack, who emphasized that this shouldnt be used for anything other than serving survivors. It should just be used for the incident to prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence and allow for victims to have justice in their situation.

Other organizations, like Leda Health Company, hope this bill will pass through the California legislature. Long-time lobbyist and Chief Operating Officer Drew Englander wrote to Annenberg Media that the company is proud to support SB 1228.

Its a major step in re-building survivors trust and support in the system, wrote Englander.

SB 1228 aligns California to national best practices and FBI standards and, more importantly, protects survivors by letting them know they can safely get a rape kit done without fear of their kit linking them to prosecution for other crimes.

Englander praised Wiener for quickly creating a solution and ensuring survivors access to care is protected. He also notes that anyone looking to sign on to the companys letter of support to SB 1228 can do so here.

Read this article:
DNA from a sexual assault survivor connected her to a different crime. In response, the California legislature proposed a bill to protect survivors...

Dug may not be the worlds largest potato, but its still pretty spudtacular.

When New Zealand couple Colin and Donna Craig-Brown first discovered the gigantic vegetable in their garden last August, they knew they had something special on their hands.

Dug is named for how the two of them unearthed it - you guessed it, by digging.

Watch the latest News on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >>

They decided to submit Dug to Guinness World Records, and seven months and one DNA test later, they received some depressing news.

Sadly the specimen is not a potato and is in fact the tuber of a type of gourd. For this reason we do unfortunately have to disqualify the application, a Guinness World Records spokesperson told the couple via email.

A tuber is an underground organic structure that stores water and helps plants regrow after winter or harsh weather, according to Amy Charkowski, professor and department head in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.

Hamilton resident Mr Craig-Brown, 62, was surprised to hear the DNA results and quickly got to work unraveling the mystery.

After poring over the data results provided by Guinness World Records, he discovered that Dug came from a choko, a starchy plant in their garden that looks like a wrinkly, green pear.

Charkowski hypothesised, however, that Dug may actually be a tuberous root, a storage root similar to a potato tuber, but lacks buds like the eyes on a potato.

A choko, also known as chayote, grows from tuberous roots, according to the Wisconsin Master Gardener.

He was initially surprised since he had tried a raw sample of Dug that tasted identical to a potato, but further research revealed chokos can have a similar flavour.

The revelation came as a relief to Mr Craig-Brown, because he was confused as to how a gourd could have gotten into that side of his garden.

At least I answered all the questions and dont need to lay awake at 3 in the morning trying to figure out what has gone wrong with Mother Nature, he said.

A longtime gardener, Mr Craig-Brown found Dug when he was tending to his plants and struck a hard object under the soil.

After pulling out the monstrous vegetable, he was gobsmacked at the size - 7.9kg (17.4 pounds), to be exact.

The current potato record-holder is Peter Glazebrook, a United Kingdom resident who grew a spud weighing 4.98kg (11 pounds) in 2011.

A little trolley was built to cart Dug around, and the potato quickly became the talk of the town, Mr Craig-Brown said.

A couple of weeks into Dugs life above ground, Mr Craig-Brown noticed it was spoiling so he stored the coveted veggie in his freezer.

Dug may have garnered thousands of admirers around the globe, but the vegetables biggest fans are Mr Craig-Browns grandchildren, he said.

I open up the freezer, take him out of the packing bags, set him down and their little eyes pop open and their chins drop, Mr Craig-Brown said.

The worlds heaviest potato award may still be on the horizon for Mr Craig-Brown, even if its not Dug.

After getting a hold of all this scientific information, Id at least give a crack at it myself, he said.

It wont be easy, though.

Multiple factors go into growing a giant potato that is at least 20 ounces (0.6 kilogram), according to Charkowski.

For optimal conditions, it should be a certified tuberous root of a russet variety that is free of disease, she said.

The potatoes need to grow over a long season with cool nights no warmer than 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 degrees Celsius).

Mr Craig-Brown hasnt settled on what hes going to do with Dug now that the tuber has been disqualified, but he may try to memorialise it.

Im going to make a mould of him, so Ive got a Dug lookalike thats non-perishable so that maybe my grandchildrens grandchildren can look at it and see what their granddad did, he said.

Read the original:
They thought they found the worlds largest potato. A DNA test proved otherwise - 7NEWS

During anarcheological dig in Tanzania in 2010,Elizabeth Sawchuk, then a 24-year-old University of Alberta master's student, uncovered a humanskulldating back 18,000 to 20,000 years.

Never would the bioarcheologistimagine extracting DNA from such an ancientspecimen,as the technology didn't existat the time,let alone publishing a scientific paper on her findings more than a decade later.

"If you had told me at the time that I would be talking to you 12 years later about her DNA, I wouldn't have believed you," Sawchuk told CBC's Edmonton AM on Tuesday.

"It seemed like a long shot but I'm glad that wepersevered and ourteam was able to extract the DNA because it's given us a completely new perspective on the past," she said.

"This individual is now the most ancient DNA we have from all of Africa."

6:54How DNA research is shedding light on ancient human stories

Sawchuk, alongside 43 other scientists from 12countries, published theirresearchon the DNA of ancient individualsin the scientific journal, Nature on Feb. 23.

Theresearch opensa black box in archeology, understanding how people interacted with one another during the last ice age, she said.

"About 50,000 years in Africa, there's this big change in the archeological record. People start acting kind of more human. They start wearing art, they start making jewelry, they start using new and better types of stone and bone tools," she explained.

Researchersalso found evidence of long-distance social networks, meaningpeople not only traveled around sub-Saharan Africa but also had children with people who lived far from where they were born, she said.

They formed new alliances and trade networks.

"That really helps us understand how when times get tough, humans get creative and it's given us a lot to think about," she said.

When Sawchukfound the skull, they could onlyidentify the age of the bones by carbon dating ostrich eggshell beads buried alongsidethe remains.

It wasn't until 2015, when technology allowed scientists toextract genetic material of remains found insuch hot and humid environments.

"It kind of was a game changer," Sawchuk said.

She and her colleagues decided in 2017 to go back and study DNA of 34 skeletons including the one in Tanzania.

While studying ancient DNA, Sawchuk has also been involved in developing ethical guidelines for archeologists, genealogists and museums for this kind of research.

She published her findings in 2021 and discussed her work on Edmonton AM in October.

Incorporating those principles extended thetime frame for the current study,but it was important to do because "these people deserve our respect,"Sawchuk said.

It was important important in light of past colonial explorations where western countries had taken without any regard for local customs and beliefs, she said.

"I want to make sure that I'm not taking more than I'm giving back to that country and that I'm working with local scholars and that we're co-producing that knowledge," she said.

More:
DNA of remains found by U of A researcher sheds light on human activity in Africa 20,000 years ago - CBC.ca