Courts of the United States are beginning to adopt technology that distinguishes … – Counsel

A court in the United States will use for the first time in a trial, a new DNA test that ultimately enables the distinction between identical siblings. DNA tests available until recently did not allow this distinction and this has complicated the work of the prosecution in criminal cases in the USA and Europe.

In a case investigating two rapes and armed robberies in the area Boston (Massachusetts), the researchers found a condom at the scene of a crime. Examination of traditional DNA pointed to two identical brothers, unable to indicate which of them was most likely criminal. Both denied the crimes.

In April, prosecutors have suspended the case temporarily until a solution was found. They decided to explore the new technology, which was announced late last year, according to the newspaper Boston Globe and Boston Herald.

On Monday (15/9), Dwayne McNair, 33, was formally terminated. The new process of “genomic mapping second generation” showed that the probability of Dwayne be the source of DNA is harvested two billion times greater than that of his brother Dwight.

European company “services genomic “Eurofins Scientific has developed the technique of genomic sequencing shows that rare genetic mutations, which may occur before or after the division of the egg -. process that produces identical twins

A vast amount of data collected in this process is then analyzed by a technology of intelligent information, called “bioinformatics”. The test can be used to produce forensic evidence in criminal cases. It also serves as a paternity test

In criminal cases, in which identical twins are involved, it is common that both brothers deny responsibility in the crime -. Accuse one or the other and vice versa. This always complicates the work of the promoters who want to produce solid evidence in a lawsuit, through DNA testing, says Professor of Law, University of California Jennifer Mnookin.

In paternity testing, the scientists investigated materials Genetic sperm samples collected from the conjoined brothers and blood sample from the child. Bioinformatic analyzes revealed five mutations, called single nucleotide polymorphisms, which are present in children and twin-father – but not in twin-uncle

John Ozorio de Melo is a correspondent of the magazine Counsel in the United States.