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Not Quite Getting Away With Murder

Aug 19, 2009

DNA evidence can be faked, report researchers from an Israeli company in Forensic Science International: Genetics. One method used whole genome amplification of a sample of blood or saliva and the other pieced together common DNA variants to match a profile already stored in a law enforcement database. The researchers say that anyone with some equipment and a biology background can "produce practically unlimited amounts of in vitro synthesized (artificial) DNA with any desired genetic profile." Lead author and company founder Dan Frumkin tells the New York Times that "any biology undergraduate could perform this." His company, Nucleix, has developed a test to tell real DNA from artificial DNA, based on its methylation state.

Breaking News
The Scan

Pig Organ Transplants Considered

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Food and Drug Administration may soon allow clinical trials that involve transplanting pig organs into humans.

'Poo-Bank' Proposal

Harvard Medical School researchers suggest people should bank stool samples when they are young to transplant when they later develop age-related diseases.

Spurred to Develop Again

New Scientist reports that researchers may have uncovered why about 60 percent of in vitro fertilization embryos stop developing.

Science Papers Examine Breast Milk Cell Populations, Cerebral Cortex Cellular Diversity, Micronesia Population History

In Science this week: unique cell populations found within breast milk, 100 transcriptionally distinct cell populations uncovered in the cerebral cortex, and more.