BBC Focus - 04.2020_

FE ATURE DNA DETECTIVES

PARABON

LABS,

GET T Y

IMAGES

X2

2 open-sourcegenealogyservicecalled

GEDmatchandcomparedit withtheDNA

recordsof hundredsof thousandsof people

whowantedtoresearchtheirfamilytree.

JustonemonthaftertheGoldenState

Killerannouncement,DNAengineering

companyParabonlauncheditsgenetic

genealogyservice– alsousingGEDmatch

• andunsolvedviolentcrimecasescame
  floodinginfrompolicedepartments.
  ParabonanalysesDNAina moredetailed
  waythanlawenforcementDNAdatabases.
  It examineshundredsof thousandsof DNA
  lociviaa techniquecalled‘singlenucleotide
  polymorphismanalysis’(SNP)ratherthan
  the 13 to 17lociof traditionalpolice‘short
  tandemrepeat’(STR)techniques(seebox,
  right).DNAancestrywebsiteslike GED
  alsoanalyseDNAusingSNP.
  Todate,Parabonhasworkedon 450 cases,
  withtheaveragecasebeing 25 yearsold.
  Thecompanyalsotakesoncurrentcases
  wherethere’sanurgentneedforleads.
  In 2018 theytookonthecaseofa man
  whohadrapeda 79-year-oldwomanin
  Utah.Parabon’schiefgeneticgenealogist
  CeCe Moore knew that narrowing down

suspectsusingfamilytreesmightbethe

onlymeansof preventingfurthercrimes.

“Theydesperatelywantedtosolvethis

casebeforeheattackedanotherwomanor

hecamebacktothevictim’shomeagain.

Shewaspetrified,couldn’tsleepat night,

afraidhewouldcomebackandfinish

thejob.Sothatwasa veryhighpressure

case.”TheperpetratorwasarrestedinJuly

2018,justthreemonthsafterthecrime.

Nowcompetitionforgeneticgenealogy

businessis growing.InFebruarylastyear,

BodeTechnologyjoinedParabonin offering

theservicetolawenforcement,followed

byVerogenIncinDecember(whenit

alsoacquiredGEDmatch).ButParabon

claimsnooneoffersa completeservice

liketheirs,combininggenealogywitha

‘snapshot’geneticphenotypingservice.

ThisgeneticphenotypingcreatesCGI

imagesof suspects’facesfromanalysisof

keylociintheirDNA.Parabonhassold

thisserviceto policeforcesin 13 countries.

Buttherushto findnewwaysof catching

criminalsthroughdetailedSNPDNA

analysisis controversial.Rumblingsstarted

assoonasdetailsof theGoldenStateKiller

captureemerged.Wasit rightthatpeoplewhosubmittedtheir

personalinformationforthepurposeoffindingrelativesshould

havetheirfamiliesinvestigatedforcrimes?Somepeopleinvolved

insubsequentcaseshavecomplainedaboutfeelingmisledthat

theirDNAhasbeenusedtobuildcasesagainstrelatives.

Crime,scienceandethicsacademicshavealsovoicedtheir

worries. Writing in the journalGenetics In Medicine, Dr Caitlin

ABOVECeCeMoore
(secondfromleft)andthe
Parabon team

“DNA PHENOTYPING HIGHLIGHTS

HOW MUCH INFORMATION IS

CONTAINED IN OUR GENETIC DATA.

THIS INCLUDES INFO ABOUT OUR

PREDISPOSITION TO DISEASE AND

MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS”