Property Marking - Tagging - Micro Dots - Dyejet - Asset Tracking & Identification

DNA AWARE - UK Supplier of DNA Print Kit

Forensic Science Service Boosts Volume Crime Detection

 

4 October 2006

The Forensic Science Service (FSS) today begins a pilot of new technology that could revolutionise high volume crime detection by separating out mixed or poor quality samples of DNA.

The new technique, DNAboost, about to be put into practice with four pilot police forces, - West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Northumbria and Humberside - is a world first in bringing clarity to a type of sample that was previously uninterpretable.

Where more than one individual has touched a surface – a chair arm, for instance - previous technology had a low success rate in distinguishing one person from another, particularly where only small amounts of DNA have been left behind, or the material found is of poor quality. Breakthrough new techniques developed at the FSS are set to boost crime detection rates by upward of 15%.

DNAboost will be the biggest step-change in DNA analysis and interpretation since the FSS conceived and introduced Low Copy Number (LCN), which enabled a match to be found from a minute sample of cells.

The use of the two techniques together could hold the key to unlock countless cold cases that have lain dormant in files for many years. Scientists estimate that using the two in conjunction could double the number of cold cases that could now be solved.

In a fiercely competitive market place, the Government owned company remains the main provider for many of the country’s 43 police forces and as such, is dedicated to reinvigorating the detection rates for both high volume and serious crime.

DNA manager Paul Hackett said “We’ve been able to demonstrate an increased rate of interpretation even in those areas that have proved traditionally most difficult – fragments of cellular submissions.” Tests suggest this area of data could now yield an improvement approaching 40%.

“This means a great many more cases have the potential to be solved and a great many more families could look forward to securing justice,” concluded Hackett.

The Forensic Science Service is the market leader in the provision of forensic science services, offering a range of analysis and interpretation tools second to none, from footprints to forged signatures. The company conceived, developed and now runs the world’s first and largest national DNA database under contract to the Home Office.

Using pioneering computer-based interpretation systems, the FSS can already handle in excess of 10,000 DNA crime stain samples each month and around 50,000 DNA samples from individuals. The throughput enables the company to complete as much analysis in one week as near European neighbours might be able to achieve in a year.

The pilot will run for three months, after which it will be available to the remainder of FSS customers.