MY FIRST TIME: Taking a DNA test Can your genes determine your fitness? I'll hopefully find out with DNAFit's swab kit. Through testing of 20 genes, some of which indicate muscle recovery, blood vessel growth, muscle efficiency,... By: Eliza Flynn … Continue reading →

PAA New cutting-edge DNA tests can identify genetic mutations to differentiate between identical twins. US prosecutors say they have a new tool to persuade jurors in cases involving twins: cutting-edge DNA testing that can identify genetic mutations to differentiate between identical siblings. Boston prosecutors re-indicted a rape suspect earlier this month after receiving new DNA test results they say pointed to him but ruled out his twin in two rape cases in 2004. Dwayne McNair, of Dedham, pleaded not guilty on Monday and is being held on $US500,000 ($A540,980) bail. Boston prosecutors had a similar case a decade ago. Other cases have popped up in other parts of the US, showing the challenges of prosecuting a twin. Standard DNA testing has not been able to differentiate between identical twins because they come from a single fertilised egg. "The science behind this testing has been used in research, in paternity tests and in a variety of other capacities," said Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley, whose office is now prosecuting McNair. "The forensic application is novel, but it's supported by a widely accepted scientific foundation," Wark said. McNair was scheduled to go on trial last April. But … Continue reading →

Semen found on the body of one of the two British tourists murdered on Koh Tao in Surat Thani province last Sunday will be examined in a Singapore laboratory, national police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung said yesterday. Somyot said the DNA test would be able to identify the race, hair colour and skin colour of the person, which would help with the police investigation. It is understood cigarette butts found at the crime scene will also be sent to Singapore for DNA analysis, although Somyot did not mention the butts in his remarks to reporters yesterday during a visit to the island. Somyot had earlier said the authorities would ask the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation to conduct the test, as the police's Institute of Forensic Medicine's DNA test was capable of only identifying the sex. He said police had clues that pointed to the perpetrators of the crime being Asian men and he was "confident" they remained on the island in the Gulf of Thailand. Surveillance camera footage obtained one day after the brutal slayings showed an Asian-looking man running from the scene. Somyot was speaking on Koh Tao, where police investigators simulated the crime using a few … Continue reading →

More than 10,000 years ago, modern humans filtered to South Florida, living side by side with mammoths, mastodons and saber-tooth tigers. About 14,000 years ago, modern humans roamed to South Florida and lived side by side with mammoths, mastodons and saber-tooth tigers. That, at least, is what Florida Atlantic University scientists hope to prove by analyzing ancient DNA found at an archaeological dig in Vero Beach. If they can confirm the age of some very brittle bones, it will fill a major gap in human history, said Greg O'Corry-Crowe, an FAU associate research professor. "It would imply that humans were on this continent much longer than originally thought," he said. Officially called the Old Vero Man site, the dig is considered one of the most important archaeological finds in North America. A large number of animal and human bones were discovered there, providing a rare glimpse of the Florida landscape at the end of the last Ice Age. The site was originally discovered in 1915 when a farming company dredging a relief canal spotted part of a human skull and 44 other bones from up to five individuals, male and female. After inspecting the bones, Dr. E.H. Sellards, the state … Continue reading →