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Dna Testing

How Genetic Testing Can Lead To Devastating Mistakes

Posted 05.23.2013 | OWN

DNA research has led to cutting-edge breakthroughs in how we detect cancer risk. But when doctors can't keep up with the science, the results can ...

Search For Serial Killer's Victims Solves Missing Orphan Case

Posted 05.15.2013 | Crime

It took more than 40 years, but New Jersey police are finally able to partially explain what happened to a teenaged orphan who disappeared on a campin...

Murder in Mississippi

David Protess | Posted 05.07.2013 | Chicago
David Protess

If the authorities in Mississippi have their way tomorrow, Willie Manning will be strapped to a gurney and injected with chemicals that will paralyze his lungs and stop his heart. It would be nice to know if he were guilty.

Forensic Confirmation Bias: When the Evidence Doesn't Speak for Itself

Jeff Kukucka | Posted 04.29.2013 | Science
Jeff Kukucka

Latent fingerprint analysis is one of the more well-established domains of forensic science, yet these human examiners are vulnerable to the same confirmation biases that plague us all. It logically follows that other, less 'scientific' domains of forensic science that involve visual comparisons could be similarly hampered.

DNA Testing and Dentistry

Thomas P. Connelly, D.D.S. | Posted 04.24.2013 | Healthy Living
Thomas P. Connelly, D.D.S.

Increasingly, DNA testing is being used on living people for health reasons, to perhaps give an insight as to what your body may hold for you in the future. And dental DNA testing is leading the way.

Does the Prosecution Win If Justice Loses?

Judge H. Lee Sarokin | Posted 05.14.2013 | Crime
Judge H. Lee Sarokin

The question often arises as to the role of the prosecution when substantial errors have occurred which challenge the very fairness of the convictions and suggest that a defendant may be innocent.

Remembering a Death Row Exonoree

David Protess | Posted 05.04.2013 | Chicago
David Protess

Want to save lives, prevent lawsuits and restore the integrity of the justice system? Remember Dennis Williams, who lost his 20s, 30s and eventually his life because those in power stubbornly refused to admit their fallibility.

Did Homophobia Convict a Wisconsin Woman of Murder?

David Protess | Posted 04.21.2013 | Chicago
David Protess

In light of the progress that's been made by the LGBT movement, it's hard to imagine that not too long ago an innocent woman could be convicted of murder because she was a lesbian. And, it's harder still to believe that it could happen in a city like Madison, Wis.

Identical Twins' DNA Evidence: Who Committed Rapes?

The Huffington Post | Ron Dicker | Posted 02.11.2013 | World

A series of rapes in Marseille, France, has generated a rare forensic puzzle: DNA evidence nabbed identical twins as suspects, LaProvence originally r...

Open Up DNA Databases to All

Diane Dimond | Posted 04.04.2013 | Crime
Diane Dimond

Over the last decade there have been dozens of reported cases where an attorney has dug deep into the case file and found untested DNA that could exonerate their client. But often when they return to court to ask for the right to test the new evidence they are told judges don't have the power to force prosecutors to re-test.

After Horsemeat Scandal, Suppliers Turn To DNA Testing

AP | SHAWN POGATCHNIK | Posted 04.01.2013 | Home

DUBLIN — Ireland's surprise discovery this month of horsemeat traces in factory-produced burgers is boosting business for one trade: Forensics l...

Did British Police Subject This Gay Man To Bizarre Mistreatment?

AP | RAPHAEL SATTER | Posted 03.18.2013 | Gay Voices

LONDON — In 1983, Stephen Close was arrested, jailed and expelled from the British army for having sex with a male squad mate. Three decades la...

Do Not Fear Your Genes: Information Is Power

Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D | Posted 02.20.2013 | Healthy Living
Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D

As Tom Murphy states so clearly, the decoding of a person's genome doesn't tell them how they will die, but rather how they should live. Yes, this is what we will learn from decoding our genes.

A Busy Year for the Texas Executioner, but Hank Skinner Eludes Death Again

David Protess | Posted 02.17.2013 | Chicago
David Protess

On death row for 18 Christmases, Hank Skinner has outlived more than 400 condemned men and women. How? Turns out the evidence was not what it seemed.

Shaping DoD Policy by Giving a Voice to Bereaved Military Families

Cilla McCain | Posted 01.13.2013 | Impact
Cilla McCain

The Department of Defense has approved a groundbreaking study examining the unique grieving process of survivors. Maybe this is a positive step toward building a stronger military community and a stronger nation as a whole.

Why Student-Athlete Wouldn't Play "Let's Make a Deal" in Oklahoma Rape Case

David Protess | Posted 11.24.2012 | Chicago
David Protess

What happens when an innocent person is offered leniency? Roll the dice and hope a jury sees the truth? Such was the dilemma faced by Darrell Williams, his supporters say -- and it happened twice.

Where Is the Path Forward for Forensics? Part II

Brandon L. Garrett | Posted 11.07.2012 | Crime
Brandon L. Garrett

When you start to look at just one case, like Donald Eugene Gates', you find out that unreliable methods and poor standards were in place. Then you find even more wrongful convictions and you realize there is a real system problem with forensics.

Forensics on the Hill: Part I

Brandon L. Garrett | Posted 09.05.2012 | Crime
Brandon L. Garrett

Why didn't anyone tell Gates over a decade before that the hair analysis in his case was all wrong? In fact, the hair testimony was scientifically unsound. There is no research on how common microscopic hair characteristics are. Hair is not like DNA or even a fingerprint.

Ex-Cop's 'Hell On Earth' Could Soon Be Over

AP | AMANDA LEE MYERS | Posted 08.26.2012 | Crime

CINCINNATI -- A former Ohio police captain who has spent 14 years in prison, largely because of a bite mark found on his ex-wife's blood-soaked body, ...

He Didn't Do It: DNA Test Frees Man Imprisoned For 2 Decades

AP | ANGELA K. BROWN | Posted 10.24.2012 | Crime

FORT WORTH, Texas — A man who spent more than two decades behind bars was freed Friday after DNA evidence cleared him in the rape of a 14-year-o...

How To Catch A 'Poopetrator' (VIDEO)

Huffington Post | Ron Dicker | Posted 08.22.2012 | Business

Fingering the four-legged culprits who do their business without their owners cleaning up has become big business. Poo Prints, a doggie DNA lab in ...

Threatened Species Used In Shark Fin Soup Across U.S.

Posted 08.10.2012 | Home

A recent study discovered that several species of sharks classified as endangered or threatened are being used to make shark fin soup served in U.S. r...

Will The FDA Approve A DNA Kit Funded By Google Co-Founders?

AP | MATTHEW PERRONE | Posted 09.29.2012 | Technology

WASHINGTON (AP) — Genetic test maker 23andMe is asking the Food and Drug Administration to approve its personalized DNA test in a move that, if succ...

Stop and Frisk -- and DNA Test?

Jason Silverstein | Posted 08.22.2012 | Politics
Jason Silverstein

Taking DNA samples from people arrested, but not convicted of a crime, has the potential to make our already unfair justice system even less fair. Before we expand the preconviction DNA dragnet, we should think hard about what that means in a racially biased system.

DNA Tests Find State Has Dozens Wrongly Convicted Of Murders And Sex Crimes

AP/The Huffington Post | Posted 06.19.2012 | Crime

RICHMOND, Va. — New DNA testing in hundreds of old Virginia homicide and sexual assault cases supports the exoneration of at least 38 suspects, acco...