Matthew J. Ruff Technology and Science Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Study finds that DNA can be fabricated at the scene of the crime!

Saturday, August 22, 2009 by Matthew J. Ruff

In a surprising new study scientists have found that DNA, the so called gold standard of proof in criminal cases, is on shaky ground. Scientists have disclosed that a person’s DNA can be faked, which can then be planted as evidence at a crime scene. It may seem like CSI science fiction, but scientists at Nucleix have demonstrated that bodily fluids such as blood and saliva taken from one person can be identified as taken from a different person altogether.

Nucleix co-founder, chairman and CEO Eylon Ganor says a person’s DNA profile hacked from a hospital or police database could be used to construct an identical DNA sample. There would be no need for an individual tissue sample. [Eylon Ganor, Nucleix Co-founder, Chairman and CEO]: (English, male) "Yes, you can engineer a crime scene. It sounds like a science fiction or a CSI piece, but it's not. It's something that is a real danger. And the problem is that current technologies, which are used by forensic labs, by the FBI or by any police department lab, cannot make the distinction between the fabricated DNA, which was planted maybe in such a crime scene, versus real DNA — and that is a problem."

Nucelix says they have developed technology that can tell the difference between your natural DNA and DNA that has been reconstructed in a lab. But according to Dr. Joseph Almog, a Professor of forensic chemistry at Hebrew University and a former director of Israel's national crime laboratory, investigators have had to deal with the concept of "planted" DNA versus natural DNA at crime scenes ever since the science developed. [Dr. Joseph Almog, Former Director, Israeli National Crime Lab]: (English, male) "The very fact that you can find somebody's DNA at the scene doesn't mean that he did the crime. Right? So whether it's been planted there or naturally arrived to that place, you have to corroborate your findings with circumstantial evidence or events."

Almog says Nucleix technology could be useful to crime scene investigators, but it could not determine if DNA found at a crime scene was taken from an individual's hairbrush or drinking cup and placed at the scene

Posted at 12:13 PM

Topic: Technology and Science