Posted on June 13, 2005

DNAPrint Launches Research to Enhance Law Enforcement Forensics

PRNewswire, June 10

SARASOTA, Fla. — DNAPrint genomics, Inc. today announced that it has begun research on developing 3D biometric applications for the Company’s DNAWitness(TM) law enforcement forensics technology.

“The ability to interpret whether DNA recovered at a crime scene can reveal anything about a person’s likely facial features and other attributes of physical appearance would be a significant tool for forensic investigators and a valuable enhancement for our DNAWitness product,” stated DNAPrint President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Gabriel.

The aim of the project is two-fold, according to Dr. Mark Shriver, Associate Professor of Biology Anthropology at Penn State University, where the research is being conducted. “We want to provide better tools for forensics professionals to infer physical appearance indirectly through assessment of BioGeographical (or genomic) Ancestry and to discover new genes that underlie specific phenotypes or physical features,” he stated.

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Dr. Shriver is conducting the research as part of a population genomic study at Penn State entitled “The Genetics of Human Pigmentation, Ancestry and Facial Features” and is utilizing the 3D technology in his laboratory to document anthropometric facial-cranial traits of research subjects. This information is valuable for forensic scientists in reconstructing physical characteristics from crime scene DNA, but is also useful for geneticists in designing studies aimed at identifying the underlying genes.

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