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DNA Testing Available in Nigeria

admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 09:08:19 +0000

The availability of DNA Testing services is growing world-wide and is now also available in Nigeria. easyDNA, which is an international provider of DNA testing services, offers a full range of DNA tests which includes paternity tests, relationship testing and forensic testing for clients based in Nigeria. All DNA tests are performed by an ISO17025 accredited laboratory with many years of experience in the field.

To date the DNA testing services available in Nigeria have been limited. However, as the awareness of the uses and functions of a paternity test grow in this country, the demand for these sevices is expected to continue to grow. In order to provide a high quality service, the company has teamed up with a local well-established hospital in order to provide its customers with the necessary support. This is in line with the policy of the company of providing high quality customer service and assistance.

In addition, tests such as the paternity test, can be done from the comfort of the client’s home, as a DNA test kit will be sent to the client once he places his order. The kit is very easy to use and pain free since the sample is collected using a sterile cotton swab.

More information can be obtained directly from the company website www.easydnanigeria.com

Unreliable DNA Evidence in Knox-sollecito trial

admin — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:21:47 +0000

The Meredith Kercher trial comes to an end as the sentences are finally read for the accused- Amdna Knox and her Italian lover Raffaele Sollecito in the city of Perugia, Northern Italy. However, the defense still questions the reliability of the DNA forensic evidence brought forward by the prosecution and Knox is supported by many who feel she has been unfairly convicted and butchered by the media.

Amanda Knox, sentenced to 26 years in prison, still declares herself Kercher’s friend, claiming that she would have never hurt her. Raffaele Sollecito, Knox’s boyfriend, was sentenced to 27 years. The two have already spent two years behind bars whilst awaiting their final verdict.

The Italian judiciary system has gone under virulent criticism by factions which support Knox’s innocence and mock the flaws of Italian law. Knox’s family have voiced serious doubts about the way the system operates in Italy and champion Amanda’s innocence. Whatever the case, there will unlikely be any diplomatic clashes over the Kercher case between the US and Italy. Knox and Sollecito will have another appeal without jury followed by a final appeal should they lose the second.

Amanda Knox as Devil

The image created by the media of the American student, Amanda Knox, is of one who was often high on drugs, had divergent sexual habit and was a party girl. She has been portrayed as being the instigator of the sex game in which Kercher unwillingly participated. The Italian media have used dehumanizing terms and have undertook a character defamation and Knox using terms which in America might well have been banned from use in the media under such circumstances.

The Flawed DNA Forensic Investigation

A view still upheld by the defense is that the gathering of DNA samples from the crime scene was flawed. This is an issue that has over-spilled into much of the US where sentiment has built up for Knox and her conviction has caused much outrage. The Italian judiciary system has come under attack by many Americans but many also feel that this is the time for Italy to take proper hold of justice and show that it can punish serious crimes with due punishment.

The evidence was pinned onto the questionable murder weapon which was found in Sollecito’s apartment. The knife had Knox’s DNA on the handle and a very small amount of Kercher’s DNA on the blade. However, the defense notes how the knife was unlikely to have been the one that caused the death of Kercher as the wounds in her neck did not match the size of the blade on the supposed murder weapon.

Furthermore, the defense notes how the traces of blood found on the knife proved to yield too little genetic material to produce conclusive DNA results. In fact, they even claim that the forensic DNA evidence was destroyed whilst being analyzed by the forensic DNA experts.

All innocent?

Rudy Hermann Guede was accused by Knox and Sollecito’s lawyers of acting alone in the murder of Kercher. However, he too claims to be innocent and is appealing the case. Sollecito claimed to have received a call in his flat at 11:00pm but this call was never traced. Knox at first claimed to have been in the flat with Kercher and have witnessed Kercher scream as she was being killed; later she claimed she was not actually in the house with Kercher the night she was murdered and only said she was because she was placed under pressure by the police forces of Perugia.

The case will still cause outrage as campaigns have been launched in Knox’s home town of Washington; people will forever sustain the unreliability of the forensic DNA evidence gathered and put forward as court evidence and criticize the judiciary inconsistencies, if any, of the Italian law.

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DNA Testing For Forensic Purposes

admin — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:18:07 +0000

One of the significant developments in Forensic science has been the use DNA Testing. This method of testing has helped solve many crimes that would not have been possible a few decades ago. More importantly it has been able to solve the crimes with a very high degree of accuracy resulting in avoidance of other circumspect or doubtful methods of investigation.

Every human being on the earth has genes. These genes are a unit of heredity and are also unique for each person. They are made up of made up of a number of molecules of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) in a particular sequence that is unique for each person. Thus a person’s genes can be identified and mapped. This system is known as DNA profiling.

In Forensic science the DNA from biological samples such as human hair, blood, semen, skin or saliva found at the scene of the crime is compared with the DNA of the suspect person and by the comparison it can be found whether the suspect person is innocent or guilty. This process is called genetic fingerprinting or DNA profiling. The system of DNA profiling is normally accurate only if the samples at the scene of the crime are not contaminated although as technology develops the capabilities of extracting DNA have improved immensely.

The first person to be sentenced to life imprisonment in the United Kingdom on the basis of evidence of DNA profiling was a rapist and murderer by the name of Colin Pitchfork. In the years 1983 and 1986, bodies of two young teenage girls were found. These girls had been raped and strangulated in a small town of Narborough, when each of the girls was returning home alone late in the day. There were no witnesses of the crimes, but the DNA profiles of the samples drawn from the scene of the two murders confirmed that the crime was perpetrated by the same person. Investigations led to the arrest of Richard Buckland, a young lad who confessed to murdering the second girl and denied that he had anything to do with the murder of the first girl. The DNA profile of Richard Buckland did not match with the DNA of the samples drawn at the scene of two murders. Further investigation led to the arrest of Colin Pitchfork in September 1987. The DNA profile of Colin’s blood sample matched with the DNA profile of the killer of the two girls. Colin Pitchfork confessed and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1988 and became the first person to be convicted based on the evidence obtained from DNA profiling. Richard Buckland was the first person to be proved innocent of the crimes alleged to him by DNA profiling.

DNA testing can be done on samples of different material obtained from the scene of the crime. The non standard samples can be blood stains from clothes, tissues and tampons, clothes such as caps, bandanas, underwear, cigarette butts, gum, hair (at least four to five hair strands with hair roots), post mortem tissues. Standard samples are obtained from Buccal swabs (swabs of saliva taken from the cheek inside the mouth), blood, semen or sperm, or dry umbilical cord. The success rates vary depending on the samples and the condition they are in. The methods of preserving the samples also vary from preserving in dry ice to tubes to simple paper envelopes.

The National DNA Index (NDIS) has thousands of records of DNA profiles of samples drawn at the scene of the crime and as well as DNA profiles of body fluid samples furnished by known offenders. This data has been used to match and solve crimes and has resulted in over seventy thousand convictions. The NDIS and the DNAAU-II departments have helped in tracing missing persons and also in identifying unidentified bodies.

Forensic investigations based on DNA profiling have come a long way since the first studies were done during the 1980s. Paternity testing can confirm that the alleged father is not a father with one hundred percent accuracy and can conclude that the alleged father is the father with 99%+ accuracy. The results are accurate even when the mother is not tested. Infidelity or ancestry can also be tracked based on DNA profiles.

A lot of innocent victims have found freedom after DNA profiling proved that they were no way connected with the crime. As the testing methodologies are further refined, DNA Forensic testing will continue to cement itself as a very important tool in crime investigation.

DNA Paternity Testing of Related Potential Fathers

admin — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:51:08 +0000

DNA Paternity Testing of Related Potential Fathers

DNA paternity testing of related potential fathers is not uncommon, although paternity in such cases is more difficult to prove beyond doubt. It is frequently possible if the relationship is known prior to testing, though in some such cases other evidence is generally required before paternity can be legally ascertained.

While positive DNA tests can be accepted as positive evidence of paternity in the vast majority of cases due the statistical improbability of potential fathers having the same DNA profiles, the situation is complicated if the possible fathers are related. It isn’t uncommon for brothers to be involved in a parentage dispute, or even for the mother to have the DNA test carried out privately to determine which is the father of her child.

In normal paternity disputes, whether or not DNA profiling is acceptable as the sole evidence depends upon the circumstances of the case, and it is generally wise to be able to prove the likelihood, or even just the possibility, of the mother and the possible father coming into contact with one another. In Islamic law a paternity test is not sufficient, and other evidence, preferably that of witnesses, is necessary.

The Legal Aspects

Where a DNA paternity test is to be used in evidence, courts will generally insist on a legal paternity test where the collection of the sampling is carried out by an authorized professional and the identity of the subject legally determined. Home DNA testing, or DNA tests on samples presented by the subject, is not admissible as evidence. The probability of paternity accepted as definitive proof varies from state to state, although a probability of 99% would seem reasonable where there is no doubt as to the source of the sample, and where no complications such as rape are involved.

The fact that parentage has been discounted in 99 men in 100 is a more positive identification of the father where there are limited possibilities than were the father potentially any individual in the general population such as occurs with rape. In that case a probability of 99.9% or higher would be more definite, together with additional proof of the likelihood of the suspect being in the vicinity.

Such probability is determined largely by the accuracy of the test that depends upon both the way it is carried out and the number of DNA indicators used (a good average would be 16), and is frequently as high as 99.99% or more. It also depends on whether the sample of the Mother is included in the testing or not, as this will help to obtain a much higher level of probability in the DNA Test result.

Common DNA between Family Members

DNA tests on related potential fathers are no different from those carried out on any other subject: it is the results that could potentially create problems. Take the case of first cousins: they share 12.5% of their DNA and so it will be more difficult to prove parentage. This sharing of DNA increases to 25% for uncles, nephews and half-brothers, and to 50% for sons, fathers and brothers of the person being tested.

DNA paternity testing on different members of the same family is not an uncommon situation, and can occur for a number of reasons, including:

a) Parentage of pregnancies arising from consensual and non-consensual relationships, although the former is by far the more common of the two.

b) Two family members each claiming parentage, whether or not the mother is claiming one or neither to be the father.

c) A brother desiring confirmation that he is the parent.

d) The mother, or potential mother, having a private test to assure herself as to who is the father.

e) A grown child confirming parentage, particularly where an inheritance could be involved.

There are others, but these are common reasons for legal and home DNA tests being carried out where potential fathers could be related. Standard DNA paternity testing statistics are based upon unrelated members of the public, and unless the laboratory carrying out the DNA testing has been informed of the relationship, the test results could be misinterpreted.

The Case of Identical Twins

Nevertheless, it is possible to test additional DNA markers if any of the above relationships are known, but not in one specific case. This is the case of identical twins. Normal twins occur when two eggs are fertilized by two sperm, and are no more alike genetically than were they siblings born years apart. Identical twins, however, are formed when one egg is fertilized by one sperm and then splits into two halves within the first 14 days for no known reason.

These twins share an identical genetic make-up and so their DNA is identical and indistinguishable from one another. There is no test that can determine which is the biological father of a child. Unless one is excluded for some reason, either could be the father and that is all that DNA testing can prove. The court would have to disregard DNA results and use other means to determine paternity.

Old-fashioned policing, therefore, still has a part to play where the related potential fathers are identical twins. Apart from this specific case, DNA paternity tests are not entirely foolproof since they rely on probability, but are virtually conclusive where you simply want confirmation of paternity. In such a case, a likelihood of 1 in a 1000 is a virtual certainty and where confirmation is required between a limited number of candidates, a 99.9% DNA genetic testing result is legal confirmation.

If you want to discuss your specific case, contact us on www.easydna.ie

easyDNA Experiences Large Increase in Cross-Border DNA Testing

admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:15:10 +0000

International DNA paternity testing firm easyDNA has seen a substantial increase in cross-border DNA testing as it continues expanding its operations in more countries.

Kent, UK – 1^st September 2008 – easyDNA, a leading DNA testing firm, has reported a marked increase in cross-border testing, which refers to a DNA test conducted on individuals based in different countries.

Commenting on this development, Sales and Marketing Director Andrew Alexander stated “The growth in cross-border testing is in line with the continued expansion of our DNA testing services in new countries. As our global reach expands, clients feel more confident to perform a DNA test which will require the co-ordination of samples being sent from different countries and sometimes different continents as well. easyDNA has now established administration offices in 14 countries to support such cross border testing requirements and thus we can process these tests faster than other companies with clients sending the samples directly back to their local office whilst customers are still assured of the highest levels of customer service for all the individuals involved.

The advantages of using our service for cross border testing means that all people involved also receive their testing kit in just a few days with some offices being able to dispatch kits with a next day guaranteed delivery. Kits can also be sent out in various languages to the people involved if required.”

As a result of this increase, easyDNA has integrated strict internal procedures into their systems to ensure that the management of the test is totally under control. Each kit issued is given a specific reference code to identify all the samples clearly, and no testing will commence until the samples of all the parties involved have been received, logged and grouped at the laboratory. Clients are advised immediately each time one of the samples involved in the test has been received.

The majority of tests involve individuals based in two different countries. However, easyDNA has also handled successfully cases involving individuals based in four different countries spread over three different continents.

Clients, who wish to discuss their particular DNA testing requirements, can visit its website www.easy-dna.com and contact the office in the country where they are based.

About:

easyDNA specializes in the provision of reliable, accurate and confidential DNA tests including DNA Paternity Testing to both the private and public sector. EasyDNA operates through a network of offices including United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Belgium, Romania, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, South Africa, India, Congo, . All testing is performed by an ISO 17025 and AABB accredited laboratory and staff have a minimum of 5 years experience dealing directly with DNA testing thereby ensuring the highest level of competence. Our lab has conducted over 250,000 DNA tests and is highly experienced in all facets of DNA testing.

Contact: Press Office

Web: www.easydna.co.uk

Email: info@easydna.co.uk