Did you know that Norway is jumping on the DNA detective bandwagon? With the help of commercial DNA databases, a new tool called Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) is heating up old crime scenes. This isn’t your typical CSI stuff; IGG uses family trees to find suspects. And guess what? They’ve al
Imagine you're a detective working on a tough case. You need to find every bit of evidence to catch the bad guy. In sexual assault cases, one crucial piece is the perpetrator's DNA. Forensic experts use various methods to find this, but a new technique called LAMP is making waves. LAMP stands for L
Earlier this week, federal authorities charged Daniel Wayne Callihan, a 37-year-old man from Amite, with kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines for sexual purposes. This follows the tragic murder of Callie Brunett, a 35-year-old woman from Loranger, and the abduction of her two young
When your body's cells produce energy, they also create byproducts called reactive oxygen species (ROS). These can damage DNA in various ways, one of the most common being the oxidation of guanine, a building block of DNA. This oxidized form is known as 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoGua). If not fixed, 8-oxoGu
Marek's Disease, a significant health issue for chickens, can cause neurological damage and tumors. It heavily impacts the poultry industry's economy and animal welfare. In the past, scientists used individual genotyping to map regions linked to MD on chicken autosomes. This time, they used a differ
Ever wondered why some plant DNA extraction kits give you better results than others? It all comes down to how well they handle the DNA, especially for those tiny little plants. Scientists use these kits to study the genetic material of plants, and the quality of the DNA they get can make or break t
Cancer has this unique friend called telomerase, which is pretty active in cancer cells. Telomerase is like a tiny machine with a reverse transcriptase and something called human telomerase RNA (hTR). We usually spot telomerase by its activity in tissues or single cells, but that's not the whole sto
You know how solving crimes often depends on finding and identifying body fluid stains? Well, scientists are making this task easier with the help of AI and a method called DNA methylation microarray screening. This process allows them to spot specific CpGs, which are tiny segments of DNA, in body f
In a New Jersey murder trial, a software called STRmix is under scrutiny. This software helps analyze complex DNA samples that used to be considered unusable. Defense lawyers for Paul Caneiro, accused of killing four family members, argue the software isn't reliable enough for court. They say it was
DNA isn't just a straight line of code; it's a twisted, intertwined helix. This twist, or DNA topology, affects almost every DNA reaction in living cells. The key players managing this twist are DNA topoisomerases. While we’ve learned a lot about these enzymes in bacteria and more complex life forms
