OXFORD, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd. announces that Clive G Brown, Chief Technology Officer, will present at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology (AGBT) conference in Marco Island, Florida, on 17th February 2012 at 11.40am (EST) / 4.40pm (GMT).

The talk is titled: “Single Molecule ‘Strand’ Sequencing Using Protein Nanopores and Scalable Electronic Devices”.

Oxford Nanopore intends to commercialise DNA strand sequencing products, directly to customers within 2012. At the AGBT presentation, Oxford Nanopore will show DNA strand sequencing data and other disruptive features of the Company's proprietary electronics-based sensing devices.

Further information will be provided at the time of the Company's presentation at the AGBT conference.

-ends-

Notes to editors

Oxford Nanopore Technologies

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd is developing a novel technology for direct, electronic detection and analysis of single molecules using nanopores. The modular, scalable GridION technology platform is designed to offer substantial benefits in a variety of applications.

The Company is developing two techniques for DNA sequencing: Strand Sequencing, and Exonuclease sequencing, both of which combine a protein nanopore with a processive enzyme for the analysis of DNA. The system is also compatible with the direct analysis of RNA. The Company has signed a commercialisation agreement for its exonuclease sequencing technology but not its strand sequencing technology which it intends to commercialise independently. Oxford Nanopore is also developing a Protein Analysis technology that combines target proteins with ligands for direct, electronic analysis using protein nanopores. These nanopore sensing techniques are combined with the Company's proprietary array chip within the GridION system.

The Company is also developing the subsequent generation of nanopore sensing devices based on solid-state nanopores.

Oxford Nanopore has licensed or owns more than 300 patents and patent applications that relate to many aspects of nanopore sensing including fundamental nanopore sensing patents, analysis using protein nanopores or solid state nanopores and for the analysis of DNA, proteins and other molecules. The Company has collaborations and exclusive licensing deals with leading institutions including the University of Oxford, Harvard and UCSC. Oxford Nanopore has funding programmes in these laboratories to support the science of nanopore sensing. This includes the use of functionalised solid-state nanopores for molecular characterisation, methods of fabricating solid-state nanopores and modifications of solid-state nanopores to adjust sensitivity or other parameters.

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Oxford Nanopore to Present DNA 'Strand Sequencing' Technology at AGBT Conference

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Ltd., the U.K. company developing a novel gene-sequencing technology, plans to market DNA strand-sequencing products directly to customers this year.

Oxford Nanopore will present data on strand sequencing at the Advances in Genome Biology and Technology conference in Florida on Feb. 17, the closely held Oxford, England-based company said today in a statement. IP Group Plc (IPO), which owns 21.5 percent of Oxford Nanopore, rose to its highest price since 2008 in London trading.

The announcement signals that Oxford Nanopore’s more immediate plans are to sell systems that don’t rely on exonuclease sequencing, for which it has a deal with Illumina Inc. (ILMN), the San Diego-based maker of gene-sequencing machines that Roche Holding AG (ROG) is trying to buy.

“With strand you’re reading the DNA directly,” Chief Technology Officer Clive Brown, who is presenting Oxford Nanopore’s data on Feb. 17, said in an interview. “You get more information of more biological utility coming out.”

Illumina owns 15 percent of Oxford Nanopore. Its other shareholders include Lansdowne Partners and Invesco Perpetual, the U.K. group of mutual funds.

$1 Billion Value

Oxford Nanopore is valued at about $1 billion, and IP Group’s holding could add 38 pence a share to its stock, said Charles Weston, a London-based analyst at Numis Securities, which advises IP Group, in a note to investors. He based the figures on Oxford Nanopore gaining 25 percent of a market that could grow to $6 billion within five years.

Weston raised his rating on London-based IP Group to “add” from “hold.” IP Group climbed 14 percent to close at 101 pence, the biggest increase since Aug. 26, 2009. That gives the company a market value of 369.4 million pounds ($586 million).

“It’s obviously a fantastic validation for IP Group, but it now becomes a very large part of their portfolio,” Weston said in an interview.

Oxford Nanopore is entering the race to develop a next- generation machine able to decode the building blocks of life in a single day, Weston said. Among the challenges it faces are competition from much larger companies, the lack of a sales force and that its technology hasn’t subjected to the scrutiny of potential users, he said.

More Funding

The company has raised 74 million pounds since it was founded and will need more funding before marketing its products, Chief Executive Officer Gordon Sanghera said in an interview yesterday. Financing could come from an initial public offering or additional private funding, he said.

“My feeling is we will do another private round,” Sanghera said. “We probably have a shareholder base that says stay put and wait until we have a burgeoning customer base.”

In addition to its major shareholders, Oxford Nanopore has individual shareholders, including company managers, and employees have stock options, according to the company.

Roche on Jan. 25 offered to buy Illumina, which has a majority of the market share for new gene-sequencing equipment, for $5.7 billion in a hostile takeover bid. That came after Illumina said its new HiSeq 2500 machine will be available in the second half of the year.

Illumina’s competitor, Carlsbad, California-based Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE), also said last month it is taking orders for a $149,000 benchtop machine called the Ion Proton Sequencer, which is designed to fully transcribe a person’s DNA in a day, rather than weeks or months, for about $1,000.

Oxford Origin

Oxford Nanopore, spun out of University of Oxford in 2005, uses different sequencing technologies that were initially based on the research of founder and board member Hagan Bayley, a chemistry professor at the university. The company has built on that science through collaborations with researchers at Harvard University, the University of California Santa Cruz and Boston University, among others, and with internal research, said Zoe McDougall, a spokeswoman.

The techniques rely on an engineered protein or nanopore that creates a tiny hole in a cell membrane one-billionth of a meter wide. As DNA bases or building blocks pass through the hole, an electronic chip measures changes in electrical current in the membrane and produces data that, when decoded, identifies the sequence of bases that make up a genome.

In strand sequencing, an entire string of DNA is guided by an enzyme and passes intact through the hole. In exonuclease sequencing, the DNA building blocks are separated by an enzyme and pass individually through the hole.

Strand sequencing provides more genetic information more cheaply, Oxford Nanopore’s Brown said. The technique can read long and complicated DNA structures more easily and with less sample preparation, he said. It also requires less computer software and smaller computers, Brown said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Gerlin in London at agerlin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at pserafino@bloomberg.net

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Oxford Nanopore to Market DNA Strand-Sequencing Products Starting in 2012

14-01-2012 20:25 http://www.crownofmessiah.com What freaked out the new Egyptian dynasty about Israel. Analysis of Israel in Egypt, they were productive, fertile, teeming like fish and swarming like insects, had a high degree autonomy, had fangs and claws, were multiplying, and filling the country. Joy of fulfilling the first commandment in the Torah, to make babies is hardwired into the dna of humankind. Parallels between Adam and Chavah's mission, and Yeshua's and our mission. Profile of exponential growth in early Yeshua movement. Stats on church growth from JD Payne, Larry Kreider and Floyd McClung, and Tony and Felicity Dale. We are not multiplying and it's a problem. Five ways our reproductive dna has been scrambled and our growth impulses have been blocked. Starts with desire. Irony of pro family people who don't want spiritual babies. The excitement, risk, and adventure of going on mission with Yeshua. Creating the right environment for growth versus doing community in unnatural ways. What if God sends 100 or 1000 new believers to you? Go the megachurch route? Prophetic call in Revelation to come out of the Roman system. Neil Cole and Church 3.0. Control and busyness as two satanic strategies that Pharaoh employed and that are used today. Cut the programs and spend quality time with Yeshua and nonreligious people and see your influence grow. God's call to come out of the system into the wilderness and be with him. Yeshua made time to go to solitary places to be with his Father. Message ...

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Danger. Your Reproductive DNA Has Been Scrambled. How To Make Spiritual Babies. Adrenal Mission. - Video

16-10-2011 03:14 How to build my Double Helix or DNA Strand neocube shape from neodymium ball magnets. Presented here is a 17 unit chain which completes a 360° degree rotation of the helix. It's formed from a simple repeating pattern of each link in the chain and really pretty easy once you know how. You can build it longer if you have sufficient (neomagnet) balls. Requires 112 balls per link, or 120 if you retain complete hexagons on the ends. The strand in this video uses 17 x 112 = 1904 balls. The second golden colour is of course optional. Music is the opening of the first movement of the Prague symphony (symphony No. 38) by Mozart, K. 504

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Tutorial - How To Build The Double Helix / DNA Strand (Neocube/Nanodots/Zen Magnets) - Video

19-01-2012 18:22 This short video shows short excerpts of a DNA change conference. It's just an entree. It doesn't, for example, explain what happens after the DNA change conference. It doesn't show HOW to change the DNA of a church. It doesn't show the place of social action, prayer, worship etc in the process of drawing non-Christians to Christ. All these critical subjects and much more are covered at the one day (Saturday conference). All this video does is give a broad brush explanation of the serious crisis facing the Church in the West. A crisis, I might add, most are completely oblivious to.

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Proposed Charleston DNA change conference 2012 - Video

14-01-2012 23:11 CLICK HERE- http://www.astrologykrs.com

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DNA and Astrology (Is DNA affected by Cosmic Rays of the Planets) - Video

25-01-2012 20:39 Ion Torrent CEO Jonathan Rothberg on the potential health benefits of mapping your genome.

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How Mapping Your DNA Can Prevent, Treat Diseases - Video

23-01-2012 15:02 This is a 4 minute HD dramatic video choreographed to powerful music, which introduces the viewer to the wonder of DNA. It is designed as a "trailer" to be shown by Biology teachers in middle and high school and college as a visual "Introduction" to this amazing molecule, and how it has directed all life on Earth. Please rate this video and feel free to comment. If you like it, please spread the word via any social media sites you can. The more teachers and students who can enjoy these dramatic videos, the better! I wish to thank all of the video and music producers whose postings enabled me to create this video for educational use. I wish to specifically thank Eric Whitacre for stunning visuals of the Tree of Life. To best enjoy this video, turn up your speakers. The music is very powerful and stirring. Subscribe to my channel for other video trailers in Biology, Earth Science, Astronomy and other topics. I will be releasing new ones periodically. I can customize this video to add your name or school name at the end credits, for a very modest fee. If interested, email me at "inquiry@gregs-educational.info"

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Introduction to DNA - Video

30-01-2012 12:07 DNA BRINGS TO THE STUDIO AS HE WORKS ON HIS NEW TRACK " NBA MONEY " FT KEVIN DURANT and CHARLIE CLIPS WHICH HAS THE INTERNET GOING CRAZY RIGHT NOW WATCH IT AND GIVE YA FEEDBACK !!!

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DNA - IN THE STUDIO (WORKING ON NBA MONEY) - Video

January 31, 2012 Updated Jan 31, 2012 at 5:31 PM EST

Buffalo, N.Y. (WKBW release) -- New York Lieutenant Governor Robert J. Duffy on Tuesday joined with City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and law enforcement officials to show support for Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's proposal to expand the state's DNA Databank, which will help solve more crimes, bring justice to victims and exonerate innocent New Yorkers.

The Lieutenant Governor and Mayor were joined at the Buffalo City Hall press conference by Erie County's First Assistant District Attorney Michael J. Flaherty, Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda, Chief of Detectives Dennis Richards and Robyn Wiktorky-Reynolds, the Advocate Program Coordinator at Crisis Services.

"When Governor Cuomo detailed his Executive Budget proposal last month, he unveiled the next steps in his plan to build a new New York," Lieutenant Governor Duffy said in a news release. "His plan to expand the state's DNA Databank will transform our criminal justice system. During my law enforcement career, I saw case after case where DNA evidence made a difference – excluding individuals from suspicion, identifying those responsible for crimes and giving victims closure and a measure of justice. I can't imagine why anyone would want to preclude such a powerful tool from being used to its fullest potential."

Mayor Brown said, "Governor Cuomo's proposal to expand the DNA Databank is critically important to solving crimes, and equally as important to keep people who are innocent from being wrongly convicted. This is going to be another useful crime fighting tool to help the Buffalo Police Department and other law enforcement agencies further reduce crime in Buffalo, and across New York."

Chief Richards said, "It is important to mention that both Governor Cuomo, as former State Attorney General, and Lieutenant Governor Duffy, as the former Chief of the Rochester Police Department, truly understand the value of DNA collection. In Buffalo, we know the value of DNA evidence, which was invaluable in solving a string of three homicides, committed by Altemio Sanchez, or the cold case murder investigation of Barbara Lloyd, who was brutally killed in 1974. It was DNA evidence that led to an arrest on February 1, 2007 and subsequent conviction of Leon Chatt for her stabbing death."

New York State has yet to realize the full potential of the DNA Databank because state law only permits DNA to be collected from 48 percent of offenders convicted of a Penal Law crime. Currently, anyone convicted of a felony or one of 36 misdemeanors under the Penal Law must provide a DNA sample.

The Governor's proposal would require DNA samples to be collected from anyone convicted of all remaining Penal Law misdemeanors and any felony under other state laws, such as felony driving while intoxicated under the Vehicle and Traffic Law, aggravated animal cruelty under the Agriculture and Markets Law, and prescription drug offenses under the Public Health Law.

The Databank was created in 1996. Since that time, DNA evidence has helped prosecutors solve more than 2,700 crimes and has exonerated 27 New Yorkers, including three men in Erie County.

New York's Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Elizabeth Glazer said: "Every day we wait to expand the state's DNA Databank, another cold case goes unresolved, a person wrongly convicted sits in prison, and we risk one of our loved ones falling victim to a crime that could have been prevented. How do we know this? Because we have evidence that shows every time we expanded the Databank, we solved more crimes. It's just that simple."

The last expansion in 2006, which for the first time made some misdemeanors DNA-eligible, showed that criminals do not specialize. Today's low-level offender is often yesterday's violent felon:

•?DNA samples taken from individuals convicted of the misdemeanor crime of petit larceny have been linked to 965 crimes, including 51 murders, 222 sexual assaults, 117 robberies, and 407 burglaries.

•?And DNA samples taken from individuals convicted of second-degree criminal trespass have been linked to 30 homicides, 110 sexual assaults and 121 burglaries, among other crimes.

Data from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) also shows that offenders linked to crimes through the DNA Databank had three prior convictions for non-DNA eligible offenses before they were convicted of offenses that required DNA samples. Many of low-level, non-DNA eligible misdemeanors are precursors to violent crime:

•?27 percent of individuals convicted of unauthorized use of a vehicle are subsequently arrested for a violent felony offense within five years of the misdemeanor conviction.

•?21 percent of individuals convicted of three other misdemeanors – third-degree criminal trespass, fourth-degree criminal mischief and theft of services – also are subsequently arrested for a violent felony offense within five years of being convicted of one of those crimes.

Taking a DNA sample is not an invasive process: convicted offenders rub the inside of their cheek with a swab. The New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center then converts that material into a numerical profile, specifically unique to that offender. The profile is only used to match convicted offenders to evidence found at a crime scene, and link crimes that may involve the same perpetrator. The profile cannot be used for any other purpose and cannot identify anything about a person's race, appearance, health or behavior.

The process in which DNA profiles are uploaded, tested and matched to convicted offenders ensures that nothing, other than science, affects the outcome of a match. Names, photographs or criminal history records that correspond to the DNA profiles are not maintained in the Databank, and DCJS, the agency confirming the identity once a match has been made, does not have access to the DNA profiles maintained in the Databank. Also, once a DNA match has been made, confirmatory testing is done to ensure its accuracy before local labs and law enforcement personnel are notified.

The New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center in Albany can process 10,000 DNA samples from convicted offenders a month. The Governor's proposed expansion will bring the monthly total to less than 7,000 and will not create a backlog.

If enacted, the Governor's proposal would take effect Oct. 1, 2012, and it would not be retroactive. In addition, the proposal would not apply to children involved in Family Court matters or youthful offenders.

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Lt. Gov., Mayor Brown Show Support for DNA Databank Expansion

Hyderabad, Jan. 30: The external affairs ministry has asked an American national to bring her Jamaican husband for a DNA test if she wanted to go ahead with the adoption procedure of her seven-week-old surrogate son born of an Indian mother.

Regional passport officer K. Srikar Reddy said J. Pearl Linda Van Buren Green, a 35-year-old New Yorker, had no "biological connection" with the baby. "She is saying the baby was born by the sperm of her husband. But only a DNA test will confirm that. The father has to come here or, maybe, they can match (the sperm without the father visiting India)," Reddy said.

Green, who claims she had arrived in India with seven samples of her husband's semen, had created a flutter last week when she left her son in the passport complex after being refused an Indian passport for the baby. Police later traced her through a local fertility clinic.

She had apparently declared her son, Emperor Kaioyus Van Buren Green, as an Indian while applying for a passport for the baby. But Reddy said birth on Indian soil could not be a criterion for issuing an Indian passport.

Green could not get a Jamaican passport for the baby as there is no Jamaican embassy either in Hyderabad or in Delhi. She had approached the honorary consul of the Jamaican government in Delhi, but was asked to meet the passport officer in Hyderabad, where her child was conceived in the fertility clinic with eggs donated by a Rajahmundry lady.

Sources in the passport office said the problem in getting a passport would not have arisen had at least one biological parent been an Indian. The absence of the "biological father" ' Eric Dalton Green ' compounded the problem.

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DNA test for surrogate dad

ScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2012) — The vaccines of the future against infections, influenza and cancer can be administered using an electrical pulse and a specially-produced DNA code from the University of Oslo. The DNA code programs the body's own cells to produce a super-fast missile defence against the disease.

Researchers at the University of Oslo,Norway have developed a new type of DNA vaccine that can be used effectively against viruses and cancer. Studies reveal that the new vaccine triggers a powerful immune response. The vaccine has been tested on mice. Now the researchers hope the vaccine can be tested clinically.

This vaccine has an additional advantage. At the moment, vaccines require the inclusion of immuno-activating substances. These substances are called adjuvants and are generally composed of oil-based mixtures or aluminium salts. Adjuvants initiate local and often painful inflammation at the injection site. This inflammation fools the immune system into reacting to the vaccine.

Without additives

The new vaccine from the University of Oslo does not need the addition of adjuvants. Instead, a completely new technology is used that applies an electrical current to the injection site immediately after injection. This electrical pulse results in a molecular reaction.

"The advantage of this type of reaction is two-fold. Firstly, one injection is enough and, secondly, the immune system reacts very quickly and effectively," points out Professor Bjarne Bogen at the Centre for Immune Regulation at the University of Oslo. Bogen has developed this new vaccine technology together with Professor Inger Sandlie, post-doctorate Agnete B. Fredriksen and a number of other co-workers.

The possibilities with this new vaccine from UiO are numerous. This new vaccine technology means it will be possible to produce vaccines quickly enough to protect against new pandemics, influenza epidemics, or hostile biological threats.

No need to cultivate viruses in eggs

It is time-consuming to make traditional vaccines. Today, in order to make influenza vaccines, viruses have to be cultivated in eggs. It can take almost a year before the vaccine is ready to use.

"The first problem: the world does not have enough eggs to produce influenza vaccine quickly enough for everybody. The second problem: certain forms of the deadly bird flu kill the eggs. Fatality can be as high as 50%. If a new influenza virus kills the eggs, it will not be possible to make a vaccine," explains Bjarne Bogen to the research-magazine Apollon.

His research team is now studying whether it is possible to use this new vaccine technology to develop a rapid and effective vaccine against influenza.

DNA is the solution

The new vaccine is composed of DNA strands. To make a new vaccine, constructing just a section of DNA is enough. Bacteria are good DNA factories. By adding a special substance, the bacteria double the number of DNA strands every 20 mins. This means an 8-fold increase in an hour. Over 24 hours, the bacteria will have produced vast quantities of DNA strands. The DNA strands then need to be cleaned free of the bacteria. This copying method is used by everybody working with DNA.

Programs the cells in the body

The researchers have called the active component in this new vaccine technology Vaccibody.

When DNA is injected together with an electric pulse, DNA is taken up in the skin cells. The cells then read-off the DNA and produce some very special proteins. It is these proteins that are called Vaccibody molecules and to which the immune system reacts so strongly.

This means: the researchers have found the DNA code that programs skin cells in the body to make Vaccibody molecules.

Made up of three parts

The Vaccibody molecules are composed of three components. Each of them has an important role in the immune system. The first component is the target guidance system which, like a pair of gripping pliers, binds to dendrite cells, a type of immune cell discovered by Ralph Steinman, who last year was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

The second component of the Vaccibody molecules ensures that two identical chains are held together. Tests reveal that this special architecture is highly important if the vaccine is to work.

The third component of the Vaccibody molecule is a small piece of a virus, a bacteria or cancer cell. This small piece is called an antigen.

"The Vaccibody molecules are made so that we can insert all types of antigens. The only condition is that the antigen has a protein structure. We have inserted bits from numerous different viruses and bacteria. All have worked. We have also been able to successfully insert an antigen made up of 523 amino acids. This is an enormous molecule."

The Vaccibody molecules attach to the dendrite cells and are taken to the lymph nodes which are the headquarters of the immune system. There, the dendrite cells "display" the antigen to the most important cells in the immune system, the B cells and T cells.

Not only does this result in large-scale production of B cells, but the immune system is also stimulated to produce aggressive T cells.

"Both of these parts of the immune defence are as a rule important in our protection against viruses and bacteria, and for eliminating cancer cells. This means that Vaccibody offers double protection."

Target guiding gripping pliers

In some types of Vaccibody molecules, the gripping pliers that attach to the dendrite cells are a chemokine. Chemokines are small hormone-like substances that guide the passage of cells through the body.

"We have achieved very good results from our studies with Vaccibody molecules guided using chemokines. The chemokines can be thought of as lighthouses along the coast. They enable the immune cells to navigate correctly and have a special effect on the production of T cells, an attribute that is very important in fighting viruses and cancer," underscores Bogen.

Successful test

The Vaccibody vaccine has so far been tested on mice with cancer and influenza. Eighty percent of the vaccinated mice became resistant to cancer. 100% of those vaccinated were protected against flu. The protection was effective very quickly. Bjarne Bogen hopes that a number of major companies can test the vaccine clinically on people.

Post-doctorate Ranveig Braathen is now developing the second generation Vaccibody where, with the help of molecular cloning, she is testing new variants of the gripping pliers to optimise its efficiency.

Post-doctorate Even Fossum is looking at how Vaccibody can be used to improve the vaccine against tuberculosis. In spite of today's vaccine against tuberculosis, 1.5 million people die every year of this disease. The new vaccine will ensure a much improved immune response against this feared disease.

Post-doctorate Inger Øynebråten is applying Vaccibody technology in the hope of making a vaccine against HIV. PhD students Gunnveig Grødeland, Marta Baranowska and Ane Marie Andersson are using Vaccibody to develop new vaccines against influenza.

Post-doctorate Agnete Brunsvik and PhD student Heidi Spång are using the technology to develop a cancer vaccine for patients with bone marrow cancer and melanoma.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Oslo, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Targeted DNA vaccine using an electric pulse

Related To Story

POSTED: 3:09 pm MST January 30, 2012

UPDATED: 4:07 pm MST January 30, 2012

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- DNA has led to the arrest of a man wanted in the kidnapping and sexual assault of a teenage girl more than a decade ago.On August 20, 2001, a 14-year-old girl walking near Delta Drive and S. Chelton Road in Colorado Springs told police a man offered her a ride, took her to an isolated area, threatened her with a knife, then sexually assaulted her.The teen told police she got away when another car drove into the area. The girl said she got the people in that car to give her a ride. DNA was collected from the victim at a hospital, police said.Ten years later, in September 2011, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation got a match on the suspect DNA submitted to CBI in 2001, according to police.Police said more samples were taken from the suspect in November.Monday, the tests confirmed Gerardo Garcia Cruz as the suspect in the kidnapping and sexual assault, according to Colorado Springs Police.Cruz was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and sexual assault on a child, police said. The following are comments from our users. Opinions expressed are neither created nor endorsed by TheDenverChannel.com. By posting a comment you agree to accept our Terms of Use. Comments are moderated by the community. To report an offensive or otherwise inappropriate comment, click the "Flag" link that appears beneath that comment. Comments that are flagged by a set number of users will be automatically removed.

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DNA Leads To Arrest in 2001 Kidnapping, Sexual Assault

HAMILTON — Ron Cyr was spotted kissing his mistress in a parked vehicle just one day after his murdered wife’s funeral, jurors were told Monday.

Det.-Const. Michael Tonin, a member of a police surveillance team, said the couple embraced for more than a minute during a mid-afternoon meeting in an empty parking lot.

“It was a passionate kiss, like lovers, people in a relationship,” he testified.

Nadia Gehl, 28, was shot twice and killed while walking to a bus stop on Feb. 2, 2009 near her Watercress Court house in suburban Kitchener.

Cyr, now 33, had moved out of their home and was living with her parents when Gehl — a toy store manager and part-time veterinary technician — was laid to rest exactly a week later.

The afternoon of the next day, Tonin said, Cyr and Michelle Brown — a student at the Gehl family law firm, where Cyr also worked — met for more than half an hour in his black Jeep.

He testified they appeared to be laughing, talking and looking at a piece of paper, although he also saw Cyr wipes his eyes as if crying at one point.

The meeting took place in the parking lot of the National Sports store on Weber Street in Waterloo, a short distance from the Gehl law office.

Tonin said he then saw Brown walking in the direction of the office. Cyr was seen a short time later at the Gehl family home in Kitchener.

Initially unknown to police while Cyr was being watched early in the investigation, Tonin testified, Brown later became a “person of interest” and a target of surveillance herself.

A legal assistant for Gehl’s uncle, criminal defence lawyer Steve Gehl, Cyr is accused of hiring two longtime friends to kill his wife while he had an alibi at work.

He and his alleged accomplices — Dennis Zvolensky, 27, and Nashat Qahwash, 26 — have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Superior Court in Hamilton.

Jurors also heard Monday from two forensic scientists about DNA found on a handgun and tests that were done that led police to conclude it was the murder weapon.

The old Mauser pistol — likely made in Germany sometime between 1914 and 1934 — was found by police hidden above the basement ceiling of a Kitchener house where Qahwash lived with his parents.

By then, the three suspects had been arrested following a six-month investigation that included an undercover officer who allegedly befriended Cyr while posing as a co-worker at a Kitchener furniture store.

Trevor Claxton, a scientist at the Centre of Forensic Sciences, examined the semi-automatic handgun for blood and other bodily substances.

He testified a sample of DNA — which he described as the “chemical blueprint for life” — was found on its grip or handle.

Claxton said tests showed four of nine key locations on a DNA profile matched those of a sample obtained from Zvolensky.

The probability of a random match, he told jurors, was conservatively calculated at one in 400,000. That means just one in 400,000 people in Ontario would be expected to have the same DNA profile in those four locations.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Delmar Doucette, who represents Zvolensky, Claxton said there is no way to determine when the DNA linked to his client was left on the gun.

He also testified there were traces of DNA on the gun from at least one other person, although it wasn’t sufficient to develop a profile or do further tests.

Claxton said that people can handle objects without leaving any DNA and that, although unlikely, a person’s DNA can be left on an object without that person actually touching it.

He agreed with Doucette that an indirect transfer of DNA could happen, for example, if someone shook hands with a person who then handled the item in question.

Judy Chin, also a scientist at the Toronto centre, testified that two bullets and three cartridge casings found at the murder scene were all fired by the hidden handgun.

“Very sure,” she answered when asked by Crown prosecutor Julia Forward about the strength of her conclusion.

Chin explained that imperfections and a spiral pattern in gun barrels leave distinct scratch marks on the projectiles fired from them.

“No two (guns) will leave the same marks,” she said.

Chin also did tests to determine how far away the handgun was when Gehl was shot in the left chest and left temple.

Based on patterns left — or not left — by gun powder and other residue, she estimated the fatal head shot was from between three and 28 inches away. The chest shot — which another expert has said came first — was at a distance of more than 15 inches.

Two bullets were found in Gehl’s clothing, one in her bra and the other in her pink tuque, which sported ear flaps and the whimsical profile of an animal on its front.

Since three cartridge casings were found by police, Chin said that likely means one of the shots fired by her killer missed.

An intense affair between Cyr and Brown, and more than $500,000 in life insurance on Gehl, have been raised by Crown prosecutors as possible motives for the Monday morning murder.

Now into its third week, the trial is expected to continue Tuesday with more evidence from surveillance officers.

bcaldwell@therecord.com

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DNA on handgun matched Zvolensky, expert testifies

30 January 2012 Last updated at 07:19 ET

DNA from one of the men accused of murdering Constable Stephen Carroll was found in the alleged getaway car, a court has heard.

Brendan McConville, 40, from Aldervale, Tullygally and John Paul Wootton, 20, of Collindale, Lurgan, deny murder.

Constable Carroll was murdered in March 2009.

A forensic expert said DNA on the cuffs and collar of Mr McConville's jacket had a one in a billion chance of belonging to someone else.

The scientist said she uncovered Mr McConville's DNA profile on three separate sites on a brown jacket found in the boot of Mr Wootton's car.

Despite Mr McConville's protestations that he did not own the jacket, Faye Southam said that in her opinion "the findings are more likely to be obtained if he was the regular wearer of the jacket".

Constable Carroll, 48, was shot in the head after answering a 999 call with colleagues.

At the time the dissident republican group, the Continuity IRA, claimed they were responsible for the shooting.

Constable Carroll was the first police officer to be killed since the formation of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

He was a married man with children and from the Banbridge area of County Down. He had served in the police force for more than 24 years.

Mr Wootton's 39-year-old mother Sharon denies perverting the course of justice by removing a computer from her home following the shooting.

Here is the original post:
Murder accused DNA 'found in car'

This section displays the last 50 news articles that were
published.

The latest support for a proposal to expand New York's DNA
databank is coming from Cortland. The mayor and police chief,
joined by state officials Friday, explained how DNA evidence
recently helped solve a burglary and stabbing in the city. Kat
De Maria has more.

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CORTLAND, N.Y. -- After thousands of dollars in jewelry went
missing from Sheridan's Jewelry on Main Street in Cortland,
there wasn't much evidence, except blood from a broken window.
The sample went into the national DNA index system and returned
a match: Kristopher Thierl.

Cortland's police chief says officers found Thierl already in
the county jail on robbery charges. But he was caught because
of the DNA taken in the course of other felony charges in
Washington State. Thierl pleaded guilty to the burglary and
robbery and remains in prison.

Under Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposal to expand New York's DNA
Databank, Cortland police wouldn't have had to rely on outside
authorities to convict him.

"That would include everything from ag and market felonies to
motor vehicle felonies, as well as all of the penal law
misdemeanors, which is going to bring a number of new samples
into the databank that we wouldn't have had before to compare
against all unsolved crimes," said Tina Stanford, director of
the New York State Office of Victims Services.

Another case in Cortland saw a suspect deported back to his
home in the West Indies following a stabbing on Groton Avenue.
A hat had been left at the scene. And following the incident,
police say the suspect became part of a rape investigation and
gave DNA.

"They were cases that would not have gone anywhere had it not
been for the DNA match to evidence collected at the scene,"
said Cortland Police Chief Michael Catalano.

At a press conference Friday, advocates explained that
currently in New York, DNA is required from less than half of
people committing crimes and then only the most serious ones.
But they say they'd rather not wait for criminals to get that
far.

"We know that many felons and violent felons will commit minor
crimes either before or after a violent crime. It's not as
simple as going out and committing a heinous crime," Catalano
said.

Advocates say since the DNA Databank was established 16 years
ago, the evidence has helped solve more than 2,700 crimes,
including six in Cortland.

"It is going to be a useful tool for police, not just in
Cortland, but throughout the state," said Cortland Mayor Brian
Tobin.

Advocates say the DNA databank codes its profiles by number,
which do not include a name or any other identifying
information. Only in the event of a match is the name revealed,
through a separate state agency.

Follow this link:
Cortland supports governor's proposal to expand DNA databank

Read the original:
DNA evidence, defendant's testimony clash in trial for accused shooter in Corey Nash homicide

10-03-2011 19:29 From forcoming album, Blood Pressure. queenmafalda.blogspot.com

Read more:
The Kills - DNA - Video

09-01-2012 18:31 The Ion Personal Genome Machine is affordable, as these things go, and can sequence a DNA sample in just 2 hours.

More:
Chip Makes DNA Sequencing Affordable - Video

09-01-2012 17:12 A man faces charges in the 1991 killing of Betty Clair Foster.

Original post:
DNA Leads To Arrest In 1991 Killing - Video