Pregledni rad
An assessment of scientific and technical aspects of closed investigations of canine forensics DNA – case series from the University of California, Davis, USA
Günther Scharnhorst
; The Jan Bashinski DNA Laboratory, California Department of Justice, Department of Justice,
Sree Kanthaswamy
; Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California – Davis, Davis, Calif., USA
Sažetak
Aim To describe and assess the scientific and technical aspects
of animal forensic testing at the University of California,
Davis. The findings and recommendations contained
in this report are designed to assess the past, evaluate the
present, and recommend reforms that will assist the animal
forensic science community in providing the best possible
services that comply with court standards and bear
judicial scrutiny.
Methods A batch of 32 closed files of domestic dog DNA
cases processed at the University of California, Davis, between
August 2003 and July 2005 were reviewed in this
study. The case files comprised copies of all original paperwork,
copies of the cover letter or final report, laboratory
notes, notes on analyses, submission forms, internal chains
of custody, printed images and photocopies of evidence,
as well as the administrative and technical reviews of those
cases.
Results While the fundamental aspects of animal DNA
testing may be reliable and acceptable, the scientific basis
for forensic testing animal DNA needs to be improved
substantially. In addition to a lack of standardized and validated
genetic testing protocols, improvements are needed
in a wide range of topics including quality assurance
and quality control measures, sample handling, evidence
testing, statistical analysis, and reporting.
Conclusion This review implies that although a standardized
panel of short tandem repeat and mitochondrial DNA
markers and publicly accessible genetic databases for canine
forensic DNA analysis are already available, the persistent
lack of supporting resources, including standardized
quality assurance and quality control programs, still
plagues the animal forensic community. This report focuses
on closed cases from the period 2003-2005, but extends
its scope more widely to include other animal DNA forensic
testing services.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
71438
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.6.2011.
Posjeta: 1.485 *