CAN HOUSEHOLD DUST CREATE FALSE POSITIVES?

CAN HOUSEHOLD DUST CREATE FALSE POSITIVES WITH DNA TESTING?

During the trial it was postulated by the defence and has been oft repeated by Amanda Knox supporters, that ambient household dust may have been the cause of Raffaele Sollecito's DNA profile being found on Meredith's bra clasp. Is this feasible? Not yet, according to New Scientist:

Telltale DNA sucked out of household dust

01 June 2008 by Andy Coghlan
Magazine issue 2658
MURDERERS and thieves beware. Human DNA has been identified in household dust for the first time.

The amount of DNA in dust is tiny and from so many people that singling out any individual could be tricky. With further research it might be possible to find ways of recreating someone's profile or even working out how recently they'd visited a crime scene from the decay of their DNA.

The discovery that human DNA is detectable and measurable in dust is a first, say researchers who report their findings in Forensic Science International (DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.01.016). "People have quantified the amount of DNA in dust many times before, but no one had looked before for human DNA," says Bonnie Brown, co-leader of the team at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

The team collected dust samples from various rooms around their campus, from highly trafficked classrooms to quieter offices. Most of ...

NEW SCIENTIST

Author	Message
Michael Site Admin Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:06 pm Posts: 6024 Images: 83 Location: England Highscores: 109	Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:03 pm Post subject: CAN HOUSEHOLD DUST CREATE FALSE POSITIVES?
	CAN HOUSEHOLD DUST CREATE FALSE POSITIVES WITH DNA TESTING? During the trial it was postulated by the defence and has been oft repeated by Amanda Knox supporters, that ambient household dust may have been the cause of Raffaele Sollecito's DNA profile being found on Meredith's bra clasp. Is this feasible? Not yet, according to New Scientist: Telltale DNA sucked out of household dust 01 June 2008 by Andy Coghlan Magazine issue 2658 MURDERERS and thieves beware. Human DNA has been identified in household dust for the first time. The amount of DNA in dust is tiny and from so many people that singling out any individual could be tricky. With further research it might be possible to find ways of recreating someone's profile or even working out how recently they'd visited a crime scene from the decay of their DNA. The discovery that human DNA is detectable and measurable in dust is a first, say researchers who report their findings in Forensic Science International (DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.01.016). "People have quantified the amount of DNA in dust many times before, but no one had looked before for human DNA," says Bonnie Brown, co-leader of the team at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The team collected dust samples from various rooms around their campus, from highly trafficked classrooms to quieter offices. Most of ... NEW SCIENTIST _________________ "The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is." - Winston Churchill
Top

Display posts from previous: Sort by