by blogger jgl
They don't some out and say it, but i assume they got some mtDNA from the fingernail scrapings. You'd think some mini-STRs could turn up something a little more "incriminating".
How would this work, did NC do the extractions and attempt STRs, then sent the extractions out for mtDNA anaysis? Or did they do mtDNA in the state lab? or did they send some of the scrapings out for extraction and analysis?
This will be interesting to follow. What's the latest verdict on how the jury perceives mtDNA evidence?
| DURHAM, N.C. - Forensic scientists might have found a DNA link between a Duke lacrosse player and the female stripper who alleges she was raped at a players' house party March 13-14, the Durham Herald Sun reported Thursday. Scientists have found tissue under a fingernail of the woman, which scientists concluded originated from the same gene pool and was "consistent" with one of 46 lacrosse players who gave DNA samples, the Herald Sun reported, citing sources. |
1 comment:
Obviously you know next to nothing about forensic DNA typing. First, it doesn't matter how juries "perceive" mtDNA typing, all that matters is that it is presented correctly.
Second, what is "incriminating" or not is not the job of the forensic scientist. We are there to present the results correctly. We don't choose markers that are more or less "incriminating" since guilt or innocence is not our purview.
Your comments mimic a dominant but incorrect assessment of mtDNA in forensics. This has lead to the ill advised extension of nuclear DNA into low copy number analysis, a mistake that will surely cost us dearly in the future.
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