There were no witnesses to the gruesome murder of a South Carolina mother and her 3-year-old daughter inside a busy apartment complex four years ago. But a new technology that can create an image of someone using DNA samples left at crime scenes might bring police closer to catching the killer. Reston, Va.-based Parabon Nanolabs, with funding from the Department of Defense, has debuted a breakthrough type of analysis called DNA phenotyping which the company says can predict a person's physical appearance from the tiniest DNA samples, like a speck of blood or strand of hair. The DNA phenotyping service, commercially known as "Snapshot," could put a face on millions of unsolved cases, including international ones, andgenerate investigative leads when the trail has gone cold. "This is particularly useful when there are no witnesses, no hits in the DNA database and nothing to go on," Dr. Ellen McRae Greytak, Parabon's director of bioinformatics, told FoxNews.com. - Dr. Ellen McRae Greytak, Parabon Nanolabs "Traditional forensic analysis treats DNA as a fingerprint, whereas Snapshot treats it as a blueprint -- a genetic description of a person from which physical appearance can be inferred," Greytak said. Parabon's new technology reads the parts of … Continue reading →

She was bludgeoned as she house-sat with her sister Jan, mother Eileen and her sister's partner, Nigel Acres, while the property's owners holidayed abroad over Christmas. More than 9,500 people have been interviewed by police, a 20,000 reward has been offered, a BBC Crimewatch appeal has been made and a limited DNA match of a suspect has been yielded. However, despite an exhaustive inquiry, no one has been charged. On the first-year anniversary of the murder, officers handed out leaflets and put up posters about the DNA screening. They asked for men aged over 17 who live, work or visit Bosham to provide a DNA mouth swab and thumbprint to eliminate them from the inquiry. The death of Ms Graves shocked the small community of Bosham, which featured in an episode of the ITV crime drama Midsomer Murders. A DNA screening is taking place in the village of Bosham (Christopher Pledger) Last month, Ms Graves's two children Tim Wood, 32, and 35-year-old Jemima Harrison spoke - along with Mr Acres - ahead of the first anniversary of her murder. The family said Christmas was put "on hold" as they faced their first festive season without her and as her murderer … Continue reading →

Eric Hopton for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online The Australian red kangaroo is a big powerful animal but the science of DNA extraction has helped paint a picture of one of its ancient ancestors that makes the red look like a puny geek. Take a red kangaroo, then double or triple its size to around ten feet in height and over 500 pounds in weight. Next, give it a set of large, nasty, hoof-like claws and then hit it in the face with a shovel. What you finish up with should resemble the long extinct giant short-faced kangaroo. This was the largest kangaroo to walk the Earth and, with its flat face and forward-pointing eyes, it was a strange looking beast. Scientists have finally managed to extract DNA from some of these giant kangaroos the mysterious marsupial megafauna that roamed Australia over 40,000 years ago. A team of scientists led by Dr Bastien Llamas and Professor Alan Cooper from the University of Adelaides Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) have extracted DNA sequences from two species: the Giant Short-faced (Simosthenurus occidentalis) and a giant wallaby (Protemnodon anak). These two fossils were discovered in a Tasmanian cave. The bones came from animals … Continue reading →

When his father passed away in October, Andrew Weckman received an intriguing offer from the funeral director handling the arrangements. The owner of Perman Funeral Home in Shaler suggested that Mr. Weckman harvest and store his deceased fathers DNA. That way the sample could be analyzed in future years as the mysteries of human genes continue to be uncovered. My father was adopted, said Mr. Weckman, 26.So we didnt know too much about his background, medical history or hereditary information. My wife and I would like to know for our own benefit, and our unborn children, if there are any kind of hereditary diseases or anything we should be aware of. For an industry that has seen dramatic changes in the spending patterns and preferences of its clients in recent years, DNA banking offers both a potential new stream of revenue for funeral homes and another service they can offer families to cope with their loss. Perman Funeral Home is the first funeral home in Pennsylvania to offer DNA banking througha partnership with the Ontario, Canada, company, DNA Memorial, which provides collection services and products. DNA Memorial has a patent pending on the process of attaching DNA to inert material … Continue reading →