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A new step forward in forensic investigation: if suspect’s DNA is not available, relatives one’s might be. And can become investigation material. This is what lead lately to the arrest of the so-called “Grim Sleeper” serial killer, who has been terrorizing Los Angeles for over twenty years. The police said they were able to charge Lonnie Franklin Jr. with at least 10 counts of murder after doing a familial DNA search on his son, Christopher, who was in prison on a felony weapons charge, and... more

The new frontier for disease cure and prevention is somewhere in our gene, that we have all known for a while. Until not so long ago, high costs and long timings have prevented to exploit the incredible possibilities of genome sequencing. Now that the wall of costs has been broken, the first mass DNA sequencing workshop could finally begin. This month, researchers at Kaiser Permanente, a volunteer based DNA bank, together with the University of California, began the highly automated, large-scale... more

Brooke Greenberg looks like a toddler, but is actually 17 years old. Born healthy, her parents noticed that something was wrong sometime between her first and second birthday, as she she was not developing and growing like other children. Seventeen years later, Brook still holds the cognitive level of a baby, is 30 cm high, has all her baby teeth and enjoys been pushed around in her stroller. She hasn’t aged. Despite the tragedy of a family confronted with a daughter that will never have the... more

Investigating following a DNA track is not unique to murder scenes and serial killing crimes. Well, at least not unique to the human species. DNA analysis has been recently used to track down how whale sushi ended up in the plates of restaurants in California and Korea. Such tracking is already being conducted on a limited scale by academic researchers and the makers of the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove, using hidden cameras and sophisticated DNA analysis to uncovered the illegal sale of... more

The first monetary settlement for misuse of DNA sample has been payed after  four years court battle by the Arizona State University. The beneficiaries of the $700,000 fine are 41 members of the ancient Indian Tribe Havasupai, who have been living in almost complete isolation for centuries in an enchanted corner deep in the Grand Canyon. What brought the two counterparts together was a cry for help from the Havasupai people: the tribe had been struck by an devastating rate of diabetes for years... more

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday said farmers could harvest their genetically engineered sugar beets this year, ruling that the economic impact would be too great if the crop were to be destroyed. The judge, Jeffrey White of the United States District Court in San Francisco, also ruled that the environmental groups, including the Center for Food Safety, waited too long to request that the crop be yanked from the ground and barred from the market. Nearly all sugar beets planted are... more

Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys has become the 22nd person, three of whom have gone on to become Nobel Peace Prize winners, to receive the award. He will receive the accolade on 14 April during the Edinburgh International Science Festival. DNA profiling is now a major tool in solving crime, and the standard method of resolving paternity disputes. The professor’s “eureka” moment came on the morning of 10 September 1984, when he went into his darkroom to develop an X-ray film from an... more

An international research team at the University of Edinburg just discovered that an inactive gene in patient’s brain might be the cause of severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. The results show that gene ABCA13 plays a crucial role in brain health. More specifically, the gene is responsible for the way fat cells are processed inside the brain, a key element on which further research will be focused. Lead researcher Douglas Blackwood, professor of Psychiatric... more

T-Mobile UK experienced earlier this week a massive breach into its data base: a yet undisclosed number of customers records have been stolen and, most likely, sold to an unidentified third party. “The number of records involved runs into the millions and it appears that substantial amounts of money changed hands”, said in a document Britain’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) acknowledging the breach. The data included customers’ personal information and contract... more

Last week an every-day matter such as a Facebook status turned into something more: a rock-solid alibi. It happened to a 19-year-old Newyorker, who has been identified by a robbery witness during a police line-up. After a couple of weeks in jail, his attorney submitted his computer’s activity record to the court. His Facebook status was updated from his 12-miles-away home computer just one minute after the crime was committed. The case of course raised both eyebrows and approvals. The important... more