summary for 3/24/09

The article i read was titled New DNA test gives cold case hope. I found it on the BBC news website. it describes how a new technique which can decipher previously unintelligible DNA samples, that where destroyed on scene, has been made available to all police forces in England and Wales. This is a huge break through for the Forensic Science Service in england and wales because these new methods can now lead to thousands of unsolved cases. Scientists can now obtain individual DNA from crime scenes which contain a mix of genetic material from several different people. The Forensic Science Service said it helped police identify suspects and build evidence for cases. Previously, it was impossible for scientists to accurately separate out DNA from different individuals at one crime scene, an example given in the article was where two or three suspects handled the same weapon. Now with the new DNAboost computer technology can do just that and provide identifiable DNA profiles for each suspect, which can be checked against the national DNA database to try to find the culprit. Experts say it could increase the number of provable cases by as much as 30%.