Category Archives: Transhuman News

MADISON Anyone arrested for a felony offense and all adults convicted of misdemeanor crimes would be required to provide a DNA sample to law enforcement under a proposal from the state Department of Justice.

Adults arrested for certain misdemeanor crimes such as fourth-degree sexual assault and prostitution also would have to provide DNA samples, which would be entered into a national database used to match DNA evidence collected at crime scenes to suspects.

Currently, state law allows DNA to be collected only from adults and juveniles convicted of felonies, with about 12,000 samples obtained each year.

Brian OKeefe, administrator for the DOJs Division of Law Enforcement Services, said the expected addition of about 68,000 DNA samples a year at least initially under the proposed expansion would help law enforcement solve more cases more quickly and get criminals off the street.

The number of new samples would eventually drop, he said, because DNA profiles of those reoffending would not have to be added to the system.

But Chris Ahmuty of the ACLU of Wisconsin, said, It seems like theyve gone for the nuclear option when it comes to DNA on arrest.

Casting such a wide net raises concerns about cost, management and privacy and turns the presumption of innocence on its head, Ahmuty said. He added that the DOJ proposal is more encompassing and costly than previous legislative proposals.

OKeefe said the proposed expansion of DNA collection would begin in October 2014 and cost about $7 million in its first two years.

To cover those costs including the addition of 26 full-time positions DOJ is asking that everyone convicted of a felony be required to pay a $250 surcharge, and that everyone convicted of a misdemeanor pay a $150 surcharge.

Currently, a DNA surcharge for people convicted of felonies is often waived by a judge.

Read more:
Expansion of criminal DNA collection proposed

ScienceDaily (Sep. 18, 2012) Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA positivity alone, particularly when assessed using polymerase chain reaction methods, is a poor biomarker for HPV-driven head and neck cancers, according to two studies published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. These studies identified alternative potential markers including viral load, viral gene expression and the evaluation of HPV DNA in combination with certain HPV assays.

Prior research has established that HPV is a cause of some head and neck cancers, including oropharyngeal cancer, and that patients with HPV-associated disease tend to have a better clinical outcome. Consequently, the proper assessment of the clinical status of individual tumors has become a goal of clinicians treating this disease because HPV at the tumor site does not indicate causal involvement in the cancer.

In the first study, Dana Holzinger, Ph.D., of the division of genome modifications and carcinogenesis at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany, and colleagues analyzed the potential of direct and indirect HPV markers to identify patients with HPV-driven tumors.

They analyzed 199 oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma specimens for HPV DNA, viral load, RNA expression patterns seen in cervical carcinomas and the p16 protein, which is associated with tumor suppression.

Results indicated that the cervical cancer RNA expression pattern and viral load were associated with the lowest risk for death from oropharyngeal cancer. In contrast, a weaker association was found for samples that were HPV DNA-positive or that expressed the p16 protein.

"We showed that high viral load and a cancer-specific pattern of viral gene expression are most suited to identify patients with HPV-driven tumors among patients with oropharyngeal cancer," Holzinger said. "Viral expression pattern is a completely new marker in this field and viral load has hardly been analyzed before."

In a second study, researchers evaluated several biomarkers individually and in combination for overall survival among head and neck cancers including polymerase chain reaction-based and serological HPV DNA testing, and p16 immunohistochemistry.

They found that the expression of two oncoproteins, E6 and E7, was associated with improved survival in oropharyngeal disease. In addition, HPV DNA positivity or p16 expression combined with E6 and E7 expression were also associated with enhanced survival. However, neither HPV DNA positivity nor expression of p16 alone yielded a similar result.

"Assessment of HPV DNA using polymerase chain reaction methods as a biomarker in individual head and neck cancers is a poor predictor of outcome and is also poorly associated with antibody response indicative of exposure and/or infection by HPV," said study author Karl T. Kelsey, M.D., professor in the department of epidemiology and the department of pathology and laboratory medicine at Brown University in Providence, R.I. "We may not be diagnosing these tumors as accurately and precisely as we need to for adjusting treatments."

The next step in this research is further validating the findings of these two studies using head-to-head comparisons and developing assays for direct clinical application of the markers.

See the article here:
Assessment of HPV DNA Alone Insufficient to Identify HPV-Driven Head and Neck Cancers

It's been the FBI's dream for years -- to do near-instant DNA analysis using mobile equipment in the field -- and now "Rapid DNA" gear is finally here.

The idea is that you simply drop into the system a cotton swab with a person's saliva, for example, and the "Rapid DNA" machine spits out the type of DNA data that's needed to pin down identity. Now that such equipment exists, the FBI is pushing to get it into the hands of law enforcement agencies as soon as possible. [Also see: "FBI building system that blows away fingerprinting"]

"DNA has emerged as the gold standard in forensics analysis," Steven Martinez, executive assistant director of the science and technology branch at the FBI, said in his keynote address to attendees of the Biometric Consortium Conference in Tampa on Tuesday.

RELATED: Biometrics scares people

Though the genetic information contained in an individual's DNA, which is in all human cells, has been used since the late 1980s to solve crime cases, analysis of DNA has remained frustratingly slow because DNA had to be sent to special labs to be analyzed. New "Rapid DNA" devices are now ready to be evaluated and the FBI has received two basic types.

One is called the RapidHIT, which is made by IntegenX, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based company whose CEO Stevan Jovanovich was in the exhibit hall to explain how the Rapid DNA device can spit out an individual's DNA data within 90 minutes.

Another company, NetBio, is also believed to have delivered its Rapid DNA-type equipment to the FBI, Jovanovich says, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is expected to play an important role in helping certify systems and processes for how these boxes will be used by the FBI and local police stations to collect DNA data on suspects.

Jovanovich notes that the networked IntegenX RapidHIT box, which is based on a hardened version of Windows and measures about 27-by-24-by-16 inches, costs about $245,000. RapidHIT boxes are already in use with intelligence agencies, says Jovanovich, who adds he's not at liberty to say which ones or what they're doing with them.

The FBI, which is believed to have upwards of 10 million DNA records on individuals already stored in databases, anticipates a significant expansion of DNA collection by means of Rapid DNA equipment.

The FBI has been known for pioneering a massive collection of fingerprint images and an online matching system that can be accessed remotely to help local law enforcement, as well as the Department of Defense and other law-enforcement agencies, nail down the identities of criminals and terrorists. Today, Dr. Alice Isenberg, chief of the biometrics analysis section at the FBI laboratory, explained in her presentation how the FBI hopes to expand the national DNA database used to investigate crime for DNA matches online as well.

Read more from the original source:
FBI eager to embrace mobile 'Rapid DNA' testing

18 September 2012 Last updated at 09:26 ET

A double rapist caught by chance years later through a DNA sample has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Peter Hendry, 41, from Springburn in Glasgow, attacked the two women, who were working as prostitutes, in Rutherglen in 2004 and 2007.

He avoided capture until a former partner accused him of domestic abuse in 2011. DNA samples were taken which matched with both attacks.

Hendry, who denied the charges, was found guilty on a unanimous verdict.

Solicitor advocate Murray Macara QC, who represented the fork-lift truck driver, told the court that his client had "constantly and consistently maintained that he did not rape these two women".

Both women had told how Hendry picked them up and drove them to a deserted industrial estate.

A 33-year-old woman told the trial that he took her there in September 2004, pinned her down and raped her, before leaving her "like a bit of trash".

The woman reported the incident to police, but Hendry remained at large.

He carried out a similar attack on a 29-year-old woman in July 2007.

Excerpt from:
Rapist caught by DNA test jailed

STONY BROOK, NY--(Marketwire - Sep 17, 2012) - The Textile Center of Excellence at Huddersfield, United Kingdom (TCOE), and Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. ( OTCBB : APDN ) (Twitter: @APDN), a provider of DNA-based anti-counterfeiting technology and product authentication solutions, announced today the roll out of a new platform for protecting textile brands, under the SigNature DNA brand. The services, which the two organizations call "revolutionary," aim to protect textiles from a wave of counterfeiting which has struck the industry.

The platform includes applications which protect a wide range of textile, apparel and accessory products, including impregnation and authentication of DNA-marked:

The platform will be unveiled at the world-famous Premire Vision Pluriel, opening at Paris Nord Villepinte Parc d'Expositions (exhibition center) at Booth #5C18, from September 19-21, 2012. At the show, APDN and TCOE will feature demonstrations, samples, and technical experts, all showing the "unique, uncopyable, and uncompromising" abilities of the technology in protecting brands from counterfeiting.

In a joint statement, the two organizations said that their technology "offers our industry a unique and powerful means to mark and authenticate original items marked with DNA."

The two organizations described SigNature DNA as "a leading anti-counterfeiting technology that can be incorporated at any point in the textile supply chain as a means to link a genuine product to its original source of manufacture." Botanical SigNature DNA markers are authenticated in a laboratory and help to provide forensic evidence that can be used in a court of law.

The Textile Centre of Excellence has partnered with some of the most prestigious mills in the United Kingdom, including Bower Roebuck, Dormeuil, Holland and Sherry, Taylor and Lodge, and John Foster. Collectively, these fabric designers and weavers supply fabric to many of the most famous designer lines of Europe and America. Its botanical SigNature DNA-based technology protects historic and high-value Yorkshire Wool. APDN has separately partnered with Supima, a promotional organization of American growers of American Pima cotton.

Bill Macbeth, Managing Director of the Textile Centre of Excellence, commented: "SigNature DNA technology offers textile and clothing manufacturers a fool-proof and affordable solution to the growing menace of product counterfeiting. We are ready and willing to help brand owners and manufacturers to boost their brand values and revenues by incorporating this unique protection into their products."

Said Dr. James A Hayward, President and CEO, Applied DNA Sciences: "We believe that the Textile Centre's new platform is a powerful demonstration of the versatility and effectiveness of our SigNature DNA product. We urge visitors to Premiere Vision to visit the TCOE booth and see for themselves how DNA marking and authentication can add great value to their product lines."

About The Textile Centre of Excellence, and the Huddersfield and District Textile Training Company

The Huddersfield and District Textile Training Company was established in 1976 to unite the local textile industry in a shared approach to professional, equitable and high-quality training. In 1999 the company established the Textile Centre of Excellence, a 2 million development located in Leeds Road Huddersfield, providing a wide range of 'state of the art' textile and clothing research and development, training and production facilities including:

Read more from the original source:
Applied DNA Sciences, Textile Centre of Excellence Unveil Textiles Anti-Counterfeiting Platform

STONY BROOK, NY--(Marketwire - Sep 18, 2012) - Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. ( OTCBB : APDN ), (Twitter: @APDN), a provider of DNA-based anti-counterfeiting technology and product authentication solutions, announced today that it has entered into a Development Agreement with Inventionland Corporation.The two companies will collaborate on the development of innovative loss-prevention products, based upon APDN's botanical DNA-marking platform. Inventionland will participate in product development with APDN and take the resultant new products and applications to its customers.

The agreement between APDN and Inventionland follows closely the launch by APDN of smartDNA, a system designed to mark offenders and to prevent theft. The system has been deployed internationally to protect banks, retailers, jewelers and pharmacies. APDN also launched its digitalDNA platform this year that combines DNA-based security with secure-cloud technology, mobile computing and authentication on-the-fly.

Inventionland Corporation (www.Inventionland.com) is America's largest invention factory.Over 1,000 different retailers and on-line stores have sold its innovations.Inventionland builds 2,000-2,400 new product samples for corporations and retailers to review for their shelves each year.With some retailers facing large asset loss from their stores, Inventionland was asked to invent new products to help eliminate loss in a more innovative and effective manner.Inventionland's founder, George Davison, is an APDN stockholder.After Mr. Davison contacted APDN, both organizations began collaborating to offer a retailer solution that would help eliminate asset loss.

Mr. Davison, renowned for his novel approaches to product development, and himself the subject of a profile on the U.S. cable TV channel History (formerly The History Channel), stated: "I was a long-standing fan of Applied DNA Sciences' novel technology and enormous breadth of application, as well as Dr. Hayward's already-validated approach to managing biotechnology development.Inventionland is now pleased to be able to take this platform to our market-leading retailers."

Dr. Hayward commented: "Biotech companies can benefit from Inventionland's innovative approach and unmatchable speed-to-market. We are thrilled to partner with Inventionland on some very original and unique applications for DNA marking."

About Applied DNA Sciences

APDN is a provider of botanical-DNA based security and authentication solutions that can help protect products, brands and intellectual property of companies, governments and consumers from theft, counterfeiting, fraud and diversion. SigNature DNA and smartDNA, our principal anti-counterfeiting and product authentication solutions that essentially cannot be copied, provide a forensic chain of evidence and can be used to prosecute perpetrators.

The statements made by APDN may be forward-looking in nature.Forward-looking statements describe APDN's future plans, projections, strategies and expectations, and are based on assumptions and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of APDN. Actual results could differ materially from those projected due to our short operating history, limited financial resources, limited market acceptance, market competition and various other factors detailed from time to time in APDN's SEC reports and filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on December 8, 2011 and our subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.APDN undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date hereof to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

About Inventionland Inventionland (http://www.inventionland.com) is America's largest invention factory, Inventionland, turns out 2,000-2,400 new inventions each year. Employees at Inventionland work in 16 unique themed sets, such as a shipwrecked pirate ship, a faux cave, a giant robot and a castle complete with turrets and drawbridge. The inspiring setting includes three running waterfalls, life-like trees and butterflies and chirping birds. In the rear of Inventionland is a red carpet that leads to a state-of-the art audio, video, and animation studio complete with sound room and one of the largest green screens in the tri-state area. Metalworking, woodworking, molding, laser cutting, prototyping, circuit board construction, and more take place in a state-of-the-art product sample construction facility. Hundreds of new ideas come to life every month at Inventionland, where Davison's award-winning team sets an example of America's can-do spirit and ingenuity.

Original post:
Applied DNA Sciences Contracts With Inventionland