MILWAUKEE (WITI) Milwaukee police sayDNA from a relative led to the identification and arrest of a suspect wanted for a sexual assault. This is just the second time in Wisconsin history DNA has been used in this way. 24-year-old Antoine Pettis of Milwaukee was charged on Tuesday, November 18th after he was identified by familial DNA and later confessed to the sexual assault of a 101-year-old Milwaukee woman. The charges he now faces include: burglary, aggravated battery and second-degree sexual assault. In an interview with investigators, Pettis admitted to entering the womans home near 35th and Florist around 2:00 a.m. on September 1st. Pettis said he went into the home with another suspect with the intention of burglarizing it. When he found nothing that he wanted to steal, Pettis admitted to sexually assaulting the victim and fleeing the scene. Pettis left behind DNA evidence at the scene. The State Crime Lab used that DNA to narrow down the list of possible suspects. On November 13th, detectives from MPDs Sensitive Crimes Division identified Pettis after his DNA revealed familial traits with those of a male relative of his, which was already in a DNA database. Police say they had Pettis DNA … Continue reading →

DNA is often referred to as a blueprint for life, or the instruction set for living organisms. We know that DNA is passed down through generations from one individual to their offspring. But did you know that DNA doesnt always follow this linear path, but instead jumps around between organisms? Professor David Adelson and his team in the School of Molecular and Biomedical Science at the University of Adelaide work on mapping the location of these genes, known as transposons, which jump between organisms to find out when and how this happens, and to determine their impact on the genome. In this post, Professor Adelson explains. By Professor David Adelson, adapted from Jumping Genes, e-Science, October 2013 Jumping DNA For decades it was believed that all the genes that encoded an organism could only be transmitted vertically from ancestors to descendants. But the discovery of Avery, MacLeod and McCarty in 1944 showed that DNA could transfer the gene for virulence from one strain of bacteria to another, indicating that it could also be transmitted horizontally between unrelated organisms. While this research was the origin of modern molecular biology, its full significance was not understood until many years later. And until … Continue reading →

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - A former northwestern Pennsylvania high school teacher serving a life term in the strangulation murder of a student in 1975 will get a DNA test he believes will show he didn't also rape the girl. The Erie Times-News (http://bit.ly/11glgX0 ) reports that Erie County prosecutors settled the lawsuit filed by 77-year-old Raymond Payne by agreeing to the DNA test. Payne is not denying killing 16-year-old Debbie Gama. But he contends it was an accident and not premeditated and that he should have been convicted of a lesser crime such as manslaughter rather than first-degree murder. Defense attorney Anderson Bailey said a favorable DNA test could bolster Payne's claims and warrant a new trial. Prosecutors say they believe Payne meant to kill the girl, whether or not he raped her, and is rightly serving a life sentence. Read the original: County settles DNA lawsuit with convicted killer … Continue reading →