I went to the link but did not see a related video?
Mrs. Holmes, thank you for letting me know. I'm going to try to post it again but I see another poster did find a similar video. Here goes nothing http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=ndMMWGth9AE
I went to the link but did not see a related video?
Thanks, sdcali. Did your source say what they, and the good folks in Coronado, think about Rebecca's death and the (lack of) investigation into the circumstances surrounding it?
Moving that particular furniture does strike me as odd - except for the fish chair. I'd take that one myself. :innocent:
The residents I know all believe it was murder. It is interesting to get the "inside" info from people who live on the island.
Emptying the house secretively is the odd part to me. Just move it in the daytime where everyone can see. what are you hiding? what are you afraid of? those are the questions that come to my mind.
Your question is essentially a question about touch DNA, in other words how readily do people transfer/deposit skin cell DNA?Do you know if DNA detection of humans on an object is directly proportional to the amount of time a body makes physical contact with the object?
I'm asking because in the LE reports, it was stated that one paintbrush and one knife contained RZ's DNA but not her fingerprints, and the second paintbrush and knife contained her fingerprints, but not DNA.
I had always thought that if your fingerprints are on an object, that means your DNA should also be found on it...except it appears that's not the case.
Your question is essentially a question about touch DNA, in other words how readily do people transfer/deposit skin cell DNA?
This is something that I have posted on extensively in the JonBenet forum.
Whether or not a usable profile is found from touch DNA is dependent on a number of factors:
The shedder profile of a person. Are they a good shedder, in other words do they have a tendency to leave more of their DNA and pick up very little, or are they a poor shedder that leaves little of their own DNA and picks up significant foreign DNA?
The length of contact with a particular object
The pressure of contact with a particular object
Do they wash their hands frequently or infrequently?
Do they have a tendency to contact their face frequently or infrequently?
The type of surface involved, is it textured or smooth?
Is the environment hot or humid and likely to cause rapid degradation?
Are there biological elements in play that may cause rapid degradation?
With all that in mind you must also remember that DNA is sampled in such a way as to try to minimize the area involved and, therefore, minimize the amount of stray DNA donors being found.
Just as an example, brief contact by someone who is a poor shedder may leave a fingerprint, but not enough skin cells to produce a usable DNA profile, whereas brief contact by a good shedder may leave enough cells for a DNA profile, but perhaps they may not have enough sweat and other secretions present to leave a fingerprint.
SHEDDER INDEX
A group of 29 people were tested for their ability to deposit their DNA profile onto touched objects. It was found that a typical good shedder leaves a complete profile on the surface of a plastic tube after contact of only 10 seconds, whereas at the other end of the scale a poor shedder will leave only a few alleles, possibly with several loci dropping out completely.
PRIMARY TRANSFER
Work was carried out to determine whether DNA profiles could be obtained from clothing; specifically, plain white T-shirts. After 8 hours wear, more of the wearers DNA was recovered from the front of the Tshirt than the back. Targeting the neck area maximized the chance of obtaining a useful result. In a series of simulated assaults, where one person grabbed the shoulder of another for a period of 30 seconds, mixed profiles were obtained from the grabbed area of the T-shirts. The assailant always contributed the major component to this mixture, regardless of his/her shedder type.
SECONDARY TRANSFER
Experiments were carried out to determine whether it was possible for individual A to transfer his DNA to individual B through contact, who could in turn transfer As DNA onto an object. We began with a scenario which was most likely to yield a result: a good DNA shedder (A) shook hands with a poor shedder (B), who then gripped a plastic tube for 10 seconds. The results from swabs of the tubes showed that on five separate occasions all of the good shedders profile was recovered, with none of the poor shedders alleles appearing. The experiment was then repeated, but with the introduction of a delay of 30 minutes between the time of the handshake and the tube-holding. The results indicated that although the poor shedder deposited some alleles, secondary transfer of the good shedders DNA still occurred.
PERSISTENCE
Many factors may affect the persistence of low level DNA; time, temperature, humidity, etc. While it is unreasonable to test every combination of variables, some generic experiments have been undertaken and certain scenarios addressed. A time-study of the persistence of DNA is currently underway, where touched items have been stored at room temperature and tested to find out how much DNA can be recovered after certain periods of time. full profiles were still recovered from surfaces touched by a good shedder even after 4 months, whereas a marked decrease in the recovery of the poor shedders DNA was observed.
An exchange of identical wrist-watches between certain shedder types was carried out to ascertain the period of time needed for the original wearers DNA profile to be replaced by that of the new wearer. Generally we found that a good shedder completely replaced the original wearers profile in 2-3 weeks, and after only a few days had become the major component of a mixture. An example of this is shown in In contrast, a poor shedder typically took around 2 weeks just to comprise the major component.
http://www.wavesignal.com/Forensics/Copy.html
We have shown that there is a difference between individuals in their tendency to deposit DNA on an item when it is touched. While a good DNA shedder may leave behind a full DNA profile immediately after hand washing, poor DNA shedders may only do so when their hands have not been washed for a period of 6 h. We have also demonstrated that transfer of DNA from one individual (A) to another (B) and subsequently to an object is possible under specific laboratory conditions using the AMPFISTR®SGM Plus multiplex at both 28 and 34 PCR cycles. This is a form of secondary transfer. If a 30 min or 1 h delay was introduced before contact of individual B with the object then at 34 cycles a mixture of profiles from both individuals was recovered. We have also determined that the quantity and quality of DNA profiles recovered is dependent upon the particular individuals involved in the transfer process. The findings reported here are preliminary and further investigations are underway in order to further add to understanding of the issues of DNA transfer and persistence.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12230994
Similarly there are a number of factors involved with fingerprints:
There are many factors which could affect how long a fingerprint lasts on an object. It may help you feel better to know a little bit about locating prints on an object. In fact, "latent" prints developed on items are chance impressions. They are composed of oil, perspiration, or other contaminants located on the finger at the time the item is touched. If there is nothing present on the finger, a latent print may not be left even though the item was touched. And even if there was "sweat" present, the surface itself might not be an ideal receptor for holding a fingerprint. Many surfaces (like vinyl for example) are not very likely to retain useable prints because they are semi-porous. They aren't hard like glass or metal, and likewise they do not absorb and retain the sweat like paper or cardboard. And even if the "sweat" and the "surface" factors were good, the touch itself might not lead to a latent print of value. For example, if I touch a piece of glass with a sweaty finger, but I do so with a glancing, sliding motion, all that will develop on the glass is a big smear. If I twist and turn my finger as I touch an item, the "touch" factor may also prevent an identifiable fingerprint from being developed even though I touched the surface. And finally, even if the "sweat" "surface" and "touch" factors are good, "environmental" factors acting on the surface after the fact might prevent an identifiable print from being left. These include temperature, humidity, handling, and packaging. On a hot dry day, an item being handled in a sealed plastic bag is probably not ideal for development of a latent print of value. Most laboratories require items of evidence for latent print processing to be packaged in paper containers for this reason. Paper "breathes" and is much less likely to build up condensation that can destroy fingerprint evidence.
So in review, there are four basic factors as to whether identifiable latent prints will be developed on an item that HAS been touched: sweat, surface, contact, and environment. If any of these factors are not ideal, an identifiable latent print may not be developed on an item that has been touched.
In order to determine how long a print will last, you would have to know what the print was composed of (sweat factor) and also you would need to know more about the surface/sweat interaction. For example, on a shell casing or similar metal object the sweat sometimes oxidizes the metal and forms a permanent "print" on the surface. Wood is a very different surface than metal, so there is no direct answer to your question. There are too many variables.
http://onin.com/fp/wwwbd/messages/4/1600.html?1235894517
http://onin.com/fp/wwwbd/messages/4/4.html
You're welcome, my pleasure.Thanks for the comprehensive DNA/fingerprint info and references, Cynic! I enjoyed reading and digesting them.
The short answer to your question is that the extra cycles significantly increase the chances of errors creeping into the resultant profile. Often you will hear people use the term, stochastic effects; these random effects can be quite problematic with respect to the correct interpretation of a profile achieved through the LCN or LT-DNA process.Just one question, Cynic, the article on DNA states that if one increases the number of PCR cycles, one could magnify the DNA and improve one's chances of finding a complete DNA profile. So why not use the trace amounts of DNA found on objects and do more than 28-34 PCR cycles whenever there is minuscule amounts (low copy numbers) of DNA found at crime scenes? Is it simply because the PCR processes are expensive?
You're welcome, my pleasure.
The short answer to your question is that the extra cycles significantly increase the chances of errors creeping into the resultant profile. Often you will hear people use the term, stochastic effects; these random effects can be quite problematic with respect to the correct interpretation of a profile achieved through the LCN or LT-DNA process.
Guarding against contamination throughout the entire process from collection at the crime scene to handling in the lab is also a real concern.
As an example, if allelic drop in and high stutter is pervasive enough in a profile, analysts may arrive at the incorrect conclusion that an additional perpetrator may be involved but in reality they will be chasing ghosts.
With the appropriate training and safeguards in place, the technology can be used responsibly and survive challenges in court, but a savvy defense team will have many avenues of attack available with the well known weaknesses that LCN DNA processing has.
The following includes some information on the problems with LCN DNA analysis that are specific to the Amanda Knox case, although it primarily focuses on the general issues involving LCN DNA.
http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/MarkWaterbury.html
http://www.injusticeinperugia.org/MarkWaterbury-2.html
See also
http://www.promega.com/resources/ar.../2010/what-is-lcn-definitions-and-challenges/
A good overview and introduction to DNA: (There are some references to old technology but, regardless, a good article.)
http://www.scientific.org/tutorials/articles/riley/riley.html
If the above is too elementary, an excellent resource and a standard reference work is:
Forensic DNA Typing: Biology, Technology, and Genetics of STR Markers, Butler, J.M.
Well, yay.Medicis continues its recent successes with its second FDA drug approval in the last 5 weeks or so. All of that improves the company's chances of being acquired with big payoffs per agreements in place. Note in today's article the $20 million payment to Medicis for this FDA clearance with more to come down the road.
http://www.benzinga.com/news/11/10/...received-for-second-generation-liposonix-syst
For those who think this crime is now cold, others have a memory of the alleged perpetrators. I believe the shadow of guilt will follow for many years to come.
http://www.thenewsburner.com/2011/1...urderer-robert-durst-moves-into-ny-townhouse/
The article makes this reference "If this case reminds you of the outrageous non-murder case of Rebecca Zahau, involving her pharmaceutical CEO boyfriend, Jonah Shacknai, you cant be found guilty."