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”