#forensic dna

Do you have crime in your story? Police? Missing persons?

FORENSIC SCIENCE?

Than I have an offer for you!

I'm a currently unemployed and bored Forensic DNA Analyst with 10+ years experience in the field.

And I will gladly help you spruce up any writing about crime scenes, investigations, Forensic Science, and trials in the US legal system.

Why?

Because I'm bored.

And grossly inaccurate representations of my field in stories annoys me.

Forensic DNA may be my specialty, but I also know a decent amount about fingerprints, ballistics, tool marks, chemistry, etc.

Here are my kitties for attention.

Verogen Bought Your DNA Sample

On Dec. 9, Verogen, a California-based forensic genomics company, acquired GEDmatch, a user-sourced DNA genealogy site. The acquisition suggests that GEDmatch’s transformation from a popular genealogy site to a crime-fighting tool is almost complete. The privacy implications will be enormous, even for those who have never considered taking a consumer genetic test.

GEDmatch launched in 2010 as an…

More forensics: how long does it take to perform DNA testing?

Well, that depends on a number of factors:

The type of case -

samples that contain semen take longer to process for DNA than samples that do not because there are more steps involved in the process and because the samples yield not one but two DNA profiles (a male enriched profile (from semen) and a female enriched sample)

The number of evidence pieces submitted -

cases with lots and lots of…

DNA vs. eye-witness testimony. Who will win?

  photo credit: sunface13 via photopin cc

Exonerations.

DNA testing is a powerful tool in the world of forensic science because of it’s ability to link people to crimes. But it’s DNA’s ability to exclude people from crime scene evidence that makes it so indispensable, particularly to the innocent sitting in prison.

Yesterday, the NY Times reportedthat 5 innocent men stand to gain $40 million for…

What if the biological evidence disproves the crime?

  photo credit: jared via photopin cc

In honor of the fact I’m doing some forensic DNA consulting, I’m allowing people to pick my brain about real-life forensic science. Simply ask your question in the comments, and I’ll either answer it there, or expand in a blog post. We’ll go as long as you guys have an interest.

The question for today was submitted by Loraine Kemp, a fantastic writer and…

I can make the life of a forensic scientist sound dull, but read the post anyway. I'm taking question. What do you want to know?

photo credit: dhammza via photopin cc

I’m up to my eyeballs in life. So much so, that I can’t find any time to write. Not a blog post, not a critique, not an email, not even a Facebook post. So I’m squeezing this post in while printing reams of case file. Why? Because I’m consulting on a large criminal DNA case.

In my past life, I used to be a forensic scientist. Not the cool CSI kind that goes…