Category Archives: Transhuman News

The devastating fire that struck a high-rise tower in London may have been so powerful that it destroyed much of the DNA evidence needed to identify its victims.

As firefighters keep searching the charred ruins of the Grenfell Tower public housing complex with sniffer dogs and drones, Metropolitan Police commander Stuart Cundy said there was "a risk that, sadly, we may not be able to identify everybody."

Experts said the intensity of Wednesday's fire at the 24-story building will make naming victims extremely difficult, drawing comparisons to the 2001 World Trade Center terror attacks in New York, where 40 percent of the victims were never identified.

"When you have a fire that takes hold like that, that is literally an inferno. You get a lot of fragmentation of bodies, charring of bones and sometimes all that's left is ash," said Peter Vanezis, a professor of forensic medical sciences at Queen Mary University in London.

He said the temperature of the blaze at Grenfell Tower was comparable to a cremation.

"The longer a fire burns, the less chance you have that there will be enough DNA left to test," Vanezis said. Still, he said if people were protected by any surrounding furniture or debris, it's possible there might be some viable DNA.

Vanezis said the best chance to identify victims may be if officials find any remaining bits of teeth or bone, which are usually the last parts of the body to be destroyed. He said sophisticated techniques could be used to amplify the DNA, but noted such tests can only identify a person's family, not the individual.

Vanezis added that medical devices like a pacemaker or any artificial implants could be used to identify people by finding their registration details.

Another complicating factor is that much of the DNA material that would normally be used to help pinpoint victims like toothbrushes or combs were probably also incinerated in the blaze.

"Even if we get some DNA, the question will be, do we have anything to compare it to?" said Denise Syndercombe Court, a forensic science expert at King's College London.

In those cases, Syndercombe Court said experts would need a DNA sample from other family members or need to see if there are any reference samples available elsewhere, like a hospital blood or tissue test.

Syndercombe Court said even tiny fragments of teeth or bone could help, explaining that DNA tests can be run on as few as 10 to 20 cells. She said many identifications would probably be done via dental records, predicting that such samples would be more likely found from people who died of smoke inhalation, rather than those killed by the fire itself.

Syndercombe Court said the testing process would likely take months, as officials scour through remains, search for things like comparison DNA and go through a lengthy verification process.

"People won't want to give up easily," she said, adding that officials would likely also encounter other obstacles, like trying to find people who weren't expected to be at the tower or differentiating between siblings where little DNA remains.

The timing of the fire after the recent deadly attacks in Manchester and London also doesn't help.

"The capacity of labs to do this kind of testing is limited," Syndercombe Court said. "They're already working on forensic evidence from Manchester and London. This just adds to the backlog."

As of Friday, London police said 30 people have died in the Grenfell blaze. Britain's Press Association has reported that some 70 people are still missing after the fire, based on a compilation of verified reports.

This version corrects the style to World Trade Center.

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London fire may have destroyed DNA needed to ID victims - ABC News

Newsday

New York Panel Backs Familial DNA Searches in Bid to Solve Crimes Wall Street Journal (subscription) A state panel voted Friday to allow New York's DNA database to be searched for family members of suspects, potentially ushering in the first use of the technique in the state. The Commission on Forensic Science, a panel of medical examiners, district ... State commission approves familial DNA search methodNewsday State forensics panel approves use of family DNA to solve crimes after slain jogger's family pushed for the techniqueNew York Daily News Slain jogger Karina Vetrano's parents applaud passage of new DNA policy in NY: 'It's all because of her'New York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV all 4 news articles »

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New York Panel Backs Familial DNA Searches in Bid to Solve Crimes - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Jun.16.2017 / 10:12 AM ET

Mindfulness has become a trendy buzzword among the wellness community. Yoga studios and meditation centers continue to pop up as people seek refuge from being constantly on the go (and feeling the draining effects).

But it turns out these practices are doing more than simply providing us a much-needed time out from our jam-packed schedules. In fact, according to a new study, they may actually be changing our DNA.

New research published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology looked at over a decade of studies, analyzing how our genes are affected by different mind-body interventions including mindfulness, yoga, meditation and Tai Chi. What they found is that these activities dont simply relax us they may actually have the ability to reverse molecular reactions to stress in our DNA that can lead to poor health and depression.

When we encounter a stressful situation (or prolonged periods of stress) our sympathetic nervous system is triggered. In reaction, our genes produce proteins called cytokines that cause inflammation at a cellular level which, over time, increases our risk of health issues like cancer, accelerated aging and psychiatric disorders like depression.

But there is some good news for those of us who find ourselves wrapped up in the chronic cycle of stress and anxiety: Researchers found that people who engage in mind-body interventions actually exhibit the opposite effect. That means that doing yoga or meditating may lead to a decrease in cyctokine production, and a reversal of the inflammatory gene, which ultimately lowers the risk of inflammation-related diseases and conditions.

"Millions of people around the world already enjoy the health benefits of mind-body interventions like yoga or meditation, but what they perhaps don't realize is that these benefits begin at a molecular level and can change the way our genetic code goes about its business, says Ivana Buric, Lead investigator from the Brain, Belief and Behaviour Lab in Coventry University's Centre for Psychology, Behaviour and Achievement. These activities are leaving what we call a molecular signature in our cells, which reverses the effect that stress or anxiety would have on the body by changing how our genes are expressed. Put simply, mind-body interventions cause the brain to steer our DNA processes along a path which improves our wellbeing.

Finally convinced you need to drop onto the mat? Here are three yoga moves to help combat those sky-high stress levels: Upward-Facing Dog in Yoga, Downward Facing Dog, Pigeon Pose.

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Meditation and Yoga May Actually Change Our DNA, Study Finds - NBCNews.com

Diana Bogas1, Lena Nyberg2, Rui Pacheco1, Nuno F. Azevedo3, Jason P. Beech4, Margarita Gomila5, Jorge Lalucat5, Clia M. Manaia1, Olga C. Nunes3, Jonas O. Tegenfeldt4, and Fredrik Westerlund2

1Universidade Catlica Portuguesa, CBQF - Centro de Biotecnologia e Qumica Fina Laboratrio Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Porto, Portugal 2Chemical Biology, Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden 3LEPABE Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal 4NanoLund and Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden 5Microbiology, Biology Department, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

BioTechniques, Vol. 62, No. 6, June 2017, pp. 255267

Abstract

Optical mapping (OM) has been used in microbiology for the past 20 years, initially as a technique to facilitate DNA sequencebased studies; however, with decreases in DNA sequencing costs and increases in sequence output from automated sequencing platforms, OM has grown into an important auxiliary tool for genome assembly and comparison. Currently, there are a number of new and exciting applications for OM in the field of microbiology, including investigation of disease outbreaks, identification of specific genes of clinical and/or epidemiological relevance, and the possibility of single-cell analysis when combined with cell-sorting approaches. In addition, designing lab-on-a-chip systems based on OM is now feasible and will allow the integrated and automated microbiological analysis of biological fluids. Here, we review the basic technology of OM, detail the current state of the art of the field, and look ahead to possible future developments in OM technology for microbiological applications.

Optical mapping (OM) is a technique capable of imaging single DNA molecules (Figure 1; Box 1). The use of OM in microbiology started in the 1990s as an auxiliary technique that, combined with Sanger nucleotide sequencing, supported reliable and cost-effective bacterial genome mapping (1). In 1999, Lin et al. (2) reported the first de novo shotgun OM-generated map of a microorganism, Deinococcus radiodurans. This map aided genome assembly (sequencing) as well as the discovery of new episomes and contributed to the elucidation of recombination mechanisms in this organism. Over the years, OM methods have been optimized, increasing the resolution and allowing smaller DNA fragments to be differentiated (generally in the kilobase range). While OM cannot fully replace most of the already established methods, it has been demonstrated that it is a good complementary or auxiliary method for two major applications: (i) comparative genome profiling, based on the detection of structural genome variations, with applications in microbial typing; and, more recently, (ii) assembly and validation of whole-genome sequencing using high-throughput sequencing methods (Table 1). OM-based maps can be compared in silico with known sequences or, conversely, can be used as scaffolds for de novo assembly. These applications led to the recognition of OM restriction fragment mapping as a tool for rapidly identifying and/or characterizing microorganisms, motivating use of the technology for the development of commercial products (e.g., http://opgen.com; http://bionanogenomics.com/; http://www.genomicvision.com/).

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Applications of optical DNA mapping in microbiology - BioTechniques.com

Investigators collected items that could contain the DNA of Karen Leclair, whose husband is accused of killing her. DNA would be used to identify her body, whenever it is recovered.

Investigators want to be ready if they need to identify the body of a woman who disappeared in Lake Erie this past weekend and has yet to be found.

To find possible DNA samples for 51-year-old Karen Leclair, state police gathered several of her personal items in a search of the Albion-area house she shared with her husband, who is charged in her death, according to a search warrant returned Thursday.

Investigators collected items such as toothbrushes and hairbrushes during a search of the Elk Creek Township residence at9670 Route 6N.

The items were sought "to assist in the identification of (Karen) Leclair when her body is recovered," according to the affidavit filed with the search warrant.

The U.S. Coast Guard declared Karen Leclair deceased Monday after a nearly 30-hour search of Lake Erie. Her husband, Christopher S. Leclair, 48, claimed she fell overboard from their commercial fishing boat.

Investigators have seized a GPS system from the Leclairs' boat in hopes of narrowing down the areas where Christopher Leclair took the boat. Police have said he has not cooperated in locating his wife's body.

"Its a waiting game," said Trooper Cindy Owens, public information officer for state police Troop E in Lawrence Park Township."They're going to make the grid and try to narrow that area down. Once they narrow that area down, then they can send people in to search the water."

Also as part of the homicide investigation, state police are searching the Leclairs' house for financial documentation concerning life insurance policies and bank statements, according to another warrant filed for the house. That warrant had not yet been returned Friday morning.

Christopher Leclair was charged Tuesday with homicide. He reported his wife missing Sunday afternoon from their 52-foot commercial fishing boat, the Doris-M, police said.

Police said surveillance footage showed the Leclairs had boarded the boat together at the East Basin docks, near Dobbins Landing, in Erie, on Saturday afternoon and that, later that day, the boat returned to the East Basin and that Christopher Leclair exited the boat alone.

Police said the footage also showed Christopher Leclair returning to the boat alone Sunday and departing the East Basin.

Leclair is in the Erie County Prison with no bond set because he is charged with homicide. His preliminary hearing has been tentatively scheduled for June 26 before Erie 1st Ward District Judge Sue Mack.

Madeleine O'Neill can be reached at 870-1728 or by email. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNoneill.

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Police seek wife's DNA in Lake Erie homicide investigation - GoErie.com