www.promega.com/enotes
To print this file, choose FILE and PRINT from your browser menu.
| This feature story contains 3 sections: Promega's Decision - PowerPlex™ 16 - What is DNA Typing? |
On July 19, 2000, Promega Corporation announced a major decision that will
significantly support admissibility of DNA testing in the U.S. judicial system: We will
disclose a critical and proprietary
element of our DNA testing
process to strengthen the acceptability of DNA typing tests in the courtroom.
Promega’s DNA testing products are known to customers as the PowerPlex™ Systems(*).
Tom Mozer,
Genetic Identity Director,
Promega Corporation.
“We want to remove a barrier to justice.” ---Dr. Tom Mozer, Genetic
Identity Director, |
We are the first DNA test manufacturer in the industry to make this unprecedented disclosure. This decision impacts the 200+ state and local crime laboratories in the U.S.
Recent court challenges to specific DNA testing procedures led Promega to review our policy on the release of validation data and primer sequences. Promega will disclose its primer sequence information in order to permit DNA test results as a form of expert testimony in the U.S. judicial system.
Our reasoning is as follows: Although courts have seen an increasing number of criminal convictions overturned by DNA test results, recently, trial courts have challenged the use of these results. For example one Vermont court recently ruled that DNA typing results were inadmissible for use in a criminal prosecution based on the fact that the primer sequences were not available for peer review. The jury acquitted the defendant. As many as a dozen cases now pending in the U.S. courts could be affected by Promega’s decision. Many other cases are expected as defense attorneys move rapidly to cite the Vermont ruling.
The DNA Advisory Board (DAB) was established by the US. Congress to develop guidelines for use of DNA typing products in forensics. Specifically, the DAB guidelines require that the DNA sequences of the primers be made public for evaluation by independent laboratories. The guidelines do not affect the scientific validity of the DNA sequence information, but rather, strengthen their acceptability from an evidentiary standpoint.
"We want to remove a barrier to justice," explained Dr. Tom Mozer, Genetic Identity Director, Promega Corporation. "While the disclosure could help our competition, all of us at Promega are keenly aware of the needs of the forensic analysis laboratories we support. That need was simply more important to us than all the other factors."
“I'm very pleased that Promega has taken this step so that all appropriate DNA evidence is readily admitted in the courtroom.” ---Dr. Paul Ferrara, Director of the Virginia Division of Forensic Science |
The law enforcement and scientific community is responding favorably to Promega's announcement. States such as Indiana and Virginia rely heavily on DNA analysis to convict suspects. Law enforcement officials in Virginia have solved 78 crimes in the past six months by matching DNA evidence collected at the crime scene against their DNA database of convicted felons. This “cold hit” ratio is one of the highest in the country. Dr. Paul Ferrara, Director of the Virginia Division of Forensic Science stated, “I'm very pleased that Promega has taken this step so that all appropriate DNA evidence is readily admitted in the courtroom.”
Promega Corporation will further address the issue at its 11th International Symposium on Human Identification in October. For the past decade, the International Symposium on Human Identification has been witness to many changes in technologies and advancements in the field of human identification. This year’s symposium features sessions addressing: innovations in DNA typing technologies; DNA databases and their impact on crime, and case studies using DNA typing to solve crimes.
See the complete press release at www.promega.com/pressrelease/
For additional information on this decision, please contact:
Carol Zabit
608-277-2670
czabit@promega.com
Promega's Decision - PowerPlex™ 16 - What is DNA Typing?