NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Pressure BioSciences is collaborating with the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Sciences to evaluate the firm's Pressure Cycling Technology for forensic applications, the company said today.
The HCL Institute, based on the grounds of the University of New Haven, will assess Pressure Bio's PCT for extracting DNA and other biomolecules from crime scene samples such as bone, hair, plant tissue, pollen, and finger nails. Current methods for extracting such samples for analysis have proven to be "inadequate or even unavailable," the company said.
In addition to traditional crime scene samples, the institute will evaluate the technology for detecting counterfeit foods, Pressure Bio added.
Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Henry C. Lee, founder of the institute said in a statement, "Such collaborations between manufacturers and practitioners in forensic science not only provide new, effective technologies for forensic DNA testing of samples that have been difficult or unsuitable using today's standard techniques, but can also provide new and more effective ways to reexamine old biological evidence in cold cases."
Pressure Bio has made other recent efforts to push PCT into forensic applications. In January, it said that Florida International University received a $349,130 grant from the US Department of Justice to develop a more accurate method for processing DNA evidence in rape investigations using PCT.