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Category Archives: DNA

DNA may help solve 40-year-old SE Ind. mystery

Posted: Published on December 10th, 2014

Lula Miller left her Laurel, Indiana, home Nov. 1, 1974. She was never heard from again. Workers for a Richmond excavating company discovered a body Oct. 1, 1975, in a sewer. The decomposed remains could not be identified. Nearly 40 years later, utilizing the Internet's power and advanced DNA testing, Indiana State Police Sgt. Scott Jarvis hopes he'll answer both lingering questions. Jarvis this week will exhume from an area cemetery the remains of that body found in a sewer and submit DNA samples for testing. He thinks the results will show the remains are Miller. "I'm more confident than not," the 15-year ISP veteran told the Palladium-Item. Jarvis' journey to this point began with a January phone call from a volunteer with The Doe Network, an online database of missing persons and unidentified bodies. The volunteers comb through cases, trying to find matches, according to Jarvis. Jarvis began researching beyond the similar time frame, proximity of location and gender match. He reviewed the cases, researched newspaper accounts at the Ball State University library and acquired the autopsy report and photos from Cincinnati. "There are characteristics, like height and weight, and other factors that match from the autopsy," Jarvis said. … Continue reading →

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Expanded DNA alphabet wins Science award

Posted: Published on December 10th, 2014

Scripps Research professor Floyd Romesberg. Production of an expanded DNA alphabet in a reproducing life form is the science breakthrough of the year, according to an online vote held by Science magazine. Scripps Research Institute scientists Floyd Romesberg and Denis Malyshev led a team that inserted two extra DNA letters into E. coli, creating a bacterium with a six-letter DNA alphabet instead of the natural four. Romesberg's work is the scientific foundation of a new San Diego biotech company, Synthorx. The modified E. coli faithfully reproduces its genetic code with the two unnatural letters, as long as the synthesized chemicals are included in its food. The unnatural letters pair with each other, creating a third base pair, while natural DNA has only two base pairs. If the bacterium isn't supplied with the synthesized letters, they are eliminated from its descendants because the modified organism can't synthesize them itself. This is a safety feature to prevent any possible harm if the organism somehow escapes the lab. The study didn't prove the unnatural letters could be used for any practical purpose; it simply showed that introducing an expanded DNA alphabet into life was possible, something that was widely considered infeasible. Synthorx was … Continue reading →

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