  Mystery
This week: The Twisted Ladder of Life Edited by: Arakun the twisted raccoon  
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Quote for the week:
With DNA, the ability to find out a lot more with a lot less has increased our ability for identification. ~ Patricia Cornwell
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You probably thought you would never need all that stuff you learned in high school biology. However, if you are a mystery writer, all those biology lessons might come in handy, thanks to a twisted ladder-shaped molecule called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA for short.
Every cell in your body contains DNA, which carries the genetic blueprint for making you. Unless you have an identical twin, no other person's DNA is exactly like yours, which is bad news for you if you are a criminal.
DNA analysis can be used to convict or exonerate suspects, identify murder or accident victims, and establish paternity of a child. DNA samples can be obtained from body fluids and tissue such as blood, bone, saliva, hair follicles, skin, and semen.
Forensic scientists analyze13 DNA regions that vary between individuals and use the data to create a DNA profile of a suspect. The odds that two people have the same DNA profile for all 13 regions are less than a million to one.
A complete description of the process of DNA analysis is beyond the scope of this newsletter, but many excellent online descriptions exist. Unless you want to put your reader to sleep, you don't need to describe the process in detail, but you need to make it sound realistic. Make sure the testing you describe is actually possible and that the time frame is accurate. While forensic examiners in movies and TV shows seem to get immediate results, complete DNA profiling takes at least a week. Case backlog and shortage of personnel may stretch the process out for weeks.
You wouldn't want to show your characters sitting around for weeks waiting for lab results, but maybe you could work the time frame for DNA testing into your plot. Maybe the true killer leaves town before the test results come back.
DNA analysis makes criminal investigation much easier than it was in the past, but it isn't perfect. Finding a suspect's DNA at a crime scene doesn't necessarily mean he committed the crime. Maybe he lived there or was a frequent visitor for perfectly innocent reasons. And if the criminal leaves no DNA behind (such as a killer who wears gloves or a rapist who wears a condom), there will be nothing to analyze.
One of the biggest problems real life forensic investigators face is DNA evidence that has been contaminated or eliminated before they get a chance to collect it. Rain might wash away traces of a killer, an assault victim might shower before reporting the crime, or emergency response personnel might contaminate the scene. Also, sometimes there is a partial DNA match, not enough to exonerate the suspect, but not enough to prove he was at the scene.
Something to try: Write a mystery story where DNA evidence is crucial to the plot.
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Mystery: October 10, 2012 Issue [#5288]
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