Advancing Forensics
An indescribable sense of personal violation occurs when someone becomes a victim of crime. For this reason, crime and its impact on society has been of primary concern for many countries throughout the world, regardless of culture or geography. Today, largely due to DNA testing, victims are more likely to see the perpetrators held accountable for the crimes they’ve committed. The use of DNA, combined with secure databases, has revolutionized the investigative process, making DNA an advanced crime-fighting tool for convicting the guilty and exonerating the innocent.
Life Technologies offers the most advanced DNA testing systems available in the world; they’re used by forensic laboratories every day to solve crimes. In recent years, Life Technologies has made significant advancements and technology improvements that have enabled smaller amounts of DNA to be obtained or more complex types of samples to yield an answer. As a result, a broader range of crime investigations can benefit from DNA technology.
Property Crimes
Property crimes include breaking and entering, and theft. Although property crime investigations have not typically utilized the power of DNA testing, a recent study completed by the Denver Crime Laboratory is powerful testimony to why DNA should be used. The Denver Crime Laboratory reported they were able to reduce property crimes by more than 30 percent, saving more than $5 million in police costs and preventing an estimated $36.8 million of property loss over the past three years. As a result, the laboratory now routinely processes property crimes using DNA technology.
Using DNA to Combat Human Trafficking
Interpol and other police organizations estimate that between 600,000 and 800,000 people—80 percent of them women and 50 percent minors—are taken by coercion or abduction each year for forced labor, sexual exploitation, illicit adoption, forced organ removal, recruitment as child soldiers, and other illegal purposes. Using DNA technology to reunite parents with children who have been abducted and recovered offers new hope for countless victims worldwide.
While human trafficking is a significant global problem, early 2010 brought a renewed sense of urgency to the need to reunite families when the devastating earthquake struck in Haiti. Life Technologies and DNA-Prokids recognized the need to use DNA in this situation and provided assistance.
- The Life Technologies Foundation provided a grant in 2009–2010 to support DNA-Prokids, a nonprofit organization that uses DNA testing to deter the trafficking of children throughout the world, and to ultimately reunite parents with children by establishing the identity of a person who offers a child for adoption as the natural parent.
- The Foundation provided DNA-Prokids with instruments and reagents through a grant process and technical resources. The program is providing support to the Haitian government to process more than 5,000 samples.
Preparing for the Expansion of DNA Databasing
Law enforcement agencies from the United States to Europe, China, and throughout the Middle East are now implementing DNA databases to assist with criminal investigative processes, helping to bring justice to victims around the world.
Once DNA database legislation is enacted, Life Technologies provides guidance on implementing world class DNA testing systems, creating a streamlined workflow for high throughput processing of DNA samples.
More than 75 countries currently have or are in the process of establishing DNA databases to combat crime. Life Technologies provides technical support and forensic testing expertise to all of these countries as they establish these systems.
In 2009 the government of Japan standardized DNA collection and analysis for the country’s 47 prefecture laboratories, using Life Technologies DNA testing systems. Life Technologies provides support to the National Police Agency and installed the most automated, sophisticated DNA testing systems, from DNA extraction through DNA analysis, creating a three-fold increase in sample throughput.
