CSI on steroids

Abstract

DNA‐based phenotyping is helping police derive visual information from crime scene samples to aid in the hunt for suspectsHoward Wolinsky (wolinsky@ameritech.net)11Freelance journalist in Chicago, IL, USAIn January this year, the Police Department of Columbia, SC, USA, released a wanted poster for an African American man sought as a person of interest (POI) in connection with the murders of a 25‐year‐old woman and her 3‐year‐old daughter 3 years ago. It was the first wanted poster of its kind, delivered by CSI on steroids. The police used forensic DNA phenotyping—determining eye and hair colouring, freckling and genomic ancestry from a DNA sample—to produce a computer‐generated image of the suspect, along with additional data. The poster and the tools used to create it provide a glimpse at a future in which genomic and genetic research are used in new ways to “identify” suspects, ironically at a time when forensic science has been facing a crisis in public confidence after a series of scandals.The police used forensic DNA phenotyping […] to produce a computer‐generated image of the suspect, along with additional dataThe murders of Candra “Candy” Alston and her daughter Malyasia Boykin in 2011 were considered cold cases. Mark Vinson, cold case investigator for the Columbia Police Department, said, “We do know that Candra was working as an escort using Internet sites to find clients. We've also released that [Alston and her daughter] were killed by different means, but we don't know exactly how they were killed. We have DNA from the scene we say would at least be a person of interest and would place a person being present around the time of the crime.” The Police had interviewed nearly 200 people, 150 of whom submitted their DNA to authorities. But no DNA profile matched the sample from the crime scene.To reboot the case, Vinson took a bold approach after he heard about a new forensic technique called Snapshot DNA Phenotyping, offered by Parabon Nanolabs, a Reston, …