One in four DNA profiles could be of innocents

At least one in four DNA profiles being collected by the police are for innocent people, a study has suggested.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information show that of 4,668 DNA profiles obtained by Cumbria police between December 2008 and January this year 1,319 people – or 28 per cent – had no further action taken against them. However only 12 profiles have since been deleted.
The picture is very different in Scotland. Strathclyde Police collected 19,197 profiles over the same period, of which 6,856 (36 per cent) were for people who were subsequently not convicted. All those profiles have been deleted.

The two forces were the only ones among the 49 covering England, Wales and Scotland who said they were able to supply figures for how many innocent people were being kept on the database.

The remaining forces claimed it would require too much work to compare DNA files with records on the Police National Computer, which would show the outcome of arrests.
Campaign group Big Brother Watch, which submitted the FOI request, warned that under current system it is virtually impossible to comply with new laws, required under the European human rights rules, that demand records of innocent people be removed after six months.

Dylan Sharpe, campaign director of Big Brother Watch, said: "Up to a third of DNA profiles added each year belong to people who have never committed a crime, yet the system currently being used in England and Wales makes it virtually impossible for the police to delete innocent profiles from the National Database.

"This contravenes the European Court ruling and represents a significant intrusion into our personal privacy.

Source: Telegraph.co.uk

Amazing killer blast clues from British scientist's breakthrough

AMAZING forensic research pioneered in Britain is being used to track down Taliban bombers - by the fingerprints found on their devices AFTER they've blown up.

Dr John Bond, a researcher at the University of Leicester, developed the technique to uncover prints from blast shrapnel and bomb casings.

It means allied troops in Afganistan can now establish exactly who made a deadly improvised explosive device - then hunt out their hiding places.

The technique is already used worldwide to help identify suspects in cold case murder investigations by analysing bullet shell casings.

Now the US Naval Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) has adopted it in Iraq and Afghanistan to build up a database of the bombers who have killed hundreds of troops and military personnel with their crude, home-made roadside bombs.

Tests were first carried out in Iraq, to check if the Middle East's climate would cause problems to prints left by marines on brass and copper. Dr Bond explained: "By applying an electric charge to metal coated in a fine conducting powder, like that used in photocopiers, we can get a detailed print.

Source: News of the world

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UGC Test For Junior Research Fellowship And Eligibility for Lectureship in June, 2010

Date of UGC NET examination: 27.06.2010

Date of UGC NET Notification : 28th March 2010

i) Last date for Applying On-Line 26-4-2010

ii) Last date for receiving the print out of online Application Form (2 copies) , Attendance Slip and Admission Card at the respective test centres (with fee receipt & category certificate(s) ).

Print out of online application form sent directly to the UGC office will not be entertained. 30.04.2010

It is notified that the next UGC-NET for Junior Research fellowship and eligibility for Lectureship will be held on 27th June, 2010 (Sunday)in Humanities, Social Sciences (including languages), Computer Science and Applications and Electronic Science etc.
The candidates who desire to appear in the test may see the detailed notification to be published in the employment news . The same is also available ton the UGC website www.ugc.ac.in.
The candidates are advised to download the above-mentioned notification along with the application form from the UGC website.
The last date for submission of the Online application form at UGC-NET centres is 26.04.2010

Drug Testing: New Test Recognizes Sample Contamination

Originally published on TheHorse.com

Equine forensic scientists from Pennsylvania have developed a novel assay for equine blood and urine samples to identify racehorses and ensure that the samples destined for drug testing were handled appropriately.

Blood and urine samples collected from racehorses by Commission employees (witnessed by the horse trainer or representative,) are sometimes challenged for breaches in the chain of custody. For example, contamination of equine samples with human samples has been reported. To confirm the source of a blood or urine sample and to minimize disputes over sample handling, a novel genetic test called the "24-plex STR" was developed.

The technique involves analyzing pieces of genetic material called short tandem repeats (STRs). These sections of DNA are amplified and analyzed to either match or exclude a match from a single blood or urine sample using 24 different STRs, including three human STRs.

Researchers tested the technique in 90 Thoroughbred and 171 Standardbred horses. According to the scientists, "the method was highly discriminating and reproducible with a probability of false identification of 1 in 1011 in Thoroughbreds and 1 in 1013 in Standardbreds.

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Internships Exclusively For Forensic Students

Internships in forensic science are hard to obtain (Especially in India). Many crime labs do not offer internships, or only offer them when they have a specific project to be completed.

IFSR is soon going to have a list of companies hiring forensic interns.....STAY TUNED!!

Visit our website for more details:
http://forensic-science.webs.com/forensicinternships.htm

Brain damage skews our moral compass

IS IT more morally acceptable to kill someone accidentally, or intend to kill them but fail? Most people would go for the first option - unless their brains are impaired in regions key to feeling emotion or divining the intentions of others.


This discovery is helping to unravel how we make moral judgements and has implications for people's fitness to serve as jurors or judges.

To probe emotion's role in moral decision-making, Liane Young and her colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology turned to nine people whose emotional responses were impaired due to damage in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.


Young presented these people with 24 moral dilemmas, each consisting of four different scenarios of varying acceptability. In one, for example, someone kills another by mistakenly adding poison to their coffee instead of sugar. In another scenario, a person tries but fails to kill another by deliberately poisoning their coffee. Participants ranked the moral acceptability of each scenario on a scale of 1 to 7.

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