That lifesaving DNA … it could be faked

DNA is pretty incredible science that has seen people freed from life sentences and had people sent to jail for life. It its relatively short life DNA has become in integral tool in fighting crime and saving lives.The general consensus is that DNA is infallible and the chances of it being wrong are incredibly small.

It turns out though that for all its infallibility any biology student could easily create credible DNA evidence that could implicate the wrong person in a crime. This comes from the scientists at Israeli company Nucleix who recently found a way to create DNA evidence that indeed would be considered to be credible evidence.

To make the fake DNA, all the researchers needed was a small sample of the DNA they wanted to plant (such as that from hair or lingering in saliva left on a discarded coffee cup) and blood from a donor. Donor blood was centrifuged to separate DNA-containing white cells and DNA-free red cells. The researchers then expanded the filched DNA into a larger sample size via whole genome amplification and added it to the DNA-free red blood cells from the donor. Poof! Blood that matched the genetic profile of the person to be framed—not the donor—was created.

Nucleix was also able to replicate a deceptive double helix just by working off genetic profiles in a police database. Building a small collection of common genetic variations—425—for different genome points, they were able to drum up a fabricated sample.

“Any biology undergraduate could perform this,” [Dan] Frumkin told the New YorkTimes.

Source: Scientific American – Lab creates fake DNA evidence

Of course much like any business needed to create a market for it’s product Nucliex says it has a fix for the potential problem. As well as creating the fake DNA the company has also created a way to detect the difference between the fake and the real DNA.

Why am I not at all surprised by that?