DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Scientists Show

[MuffyBee]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18dna.html?_r=1
DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Scientists Show
By ANDREW POLLACK
Published: August 17, 2009
Scientists in Israel have demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence, undermining the credibility of what has been considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.
The scientists fabricated blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor of the blood and saliva. They also showed that if they had access to a DNA profile in a database, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person.

“You can just engineer a crime scene,” said Dan Frumkin, lead author of the paper, which has been published online by the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics. “Any biology undergraduate could perform this.”
<snip>

[Nut44x4]

They needed a demonstration/study from Scientists to figure that out??? I wonder how much they were paid for that 'study' 

I am just a High School Graduate ...  common sense and a general understanding of science told me that many years ago, lol.

[MuffyBee]

They needed a demonstration/study from Scientists to figure that out??? I wonder how much they were paid for that 'study' 

I am just a High School Graduate ...  common sense and a general understanding of science told me that many years ago, lol.

ITA Nut.  When I saw the article I thought to myself, they're just saying this NOW? 
Rats.  Maybe i should have posted the whole article.  Now they want registration to view it.  It's free but not worth the hassle on this one.
  I went back to the link to find where it was talking about tests to enable to detect fakes.    What the article went on further to say is, there are ways or ways being researched that will be able to tell whether the DNA has been faked or not.  (more $$, I'm sure), and I'm sure it will go on and on.  Once it's figured out how to make something, then fake something, then detect the fake, then...well, you know what I mean 

[Nut44x4]

  Here we go.........

Scientists Reveal DNA Evidence Can Be Faked - And It’s Not Hard to Do: the implications upon Florida criminal defense

Pretty soon, looks like we’re all going to know the name Dan Frumkin. Who’s he?

Dan Frumkin is the author of an article in the respected journal Forensic Science International: Genetics where he writes that DNA evidence can be created in a lab – TOTALLY FABRICATED – and he warns that the real possibility of DNA evidence being faked is not being sufficiently recognized in today’s world, where everyone has been considering DNA evidence as being rock-solid, dependable proof of guilt or innocence.

Together with his team of forensic scientists, working in laboratories located in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dan Frumkin has backed up his warnings with concrete demonstrations of what can be done: not only can someone’s blood and saliva samples be twisted into a replica of someone else’s (think anonymous donor samples altered into that of pending criminal defendant), but even more terrifying, a mere review of a DNA file on a computerized database gives these scientists sufficient information to create DNA evidence that replicates that file – without ever touching any human blood or saliva at all.

They went further.  They also demonstrated how this bogus DNA can easily be planted at crime scenes — either on human tissue or on inanimate, touched surfaces.   They actually did all this — and then Frumkin wrote this paper to warn the world that DNA evidence isn’t nearly as reliable as universally assumed.

How hard is this to do?

Not hard at all. According to Dan Frumnkin, any Average Joe with some basic science know-how under his or her belt and access to some simple lab equipment can cook up “practically unlimited amounts” of phony DNA.

Now, let’s add the phrase “prosecutorial misconduct” to the mix.

Long ago, the United States Supreme Court was confronted with overzealous prosecutors monkeying with cases to get a conviction, and warned us all that prosecutors should “prosecute with eagerness and vigor” but may not use “improper methods calculated to produce a wrongful conviction.” Berger v. United States, 295 U.S. 78 (1935).

That warning didn’t stop things.  There are countless cases of prosecutorial misconduct on file in this country today — fingerprints mysteriously placed at crime scenes, guns or weapons dropped by bodies, documents gone missing from a file, the list of examples is endless.   In fact, studies on the impact of prosecutorial misconduct reveal that Florida topped the list of states with prosecutorial misconduct: in Florida, 44% of cases appealled with a claim of prosecutorial misconduct were overturned.  That’s almost HALF.

The potential implications of this Israeli study — and warning —  by Dan Frumkin upon criminal defense in the State of Florida is mindboggling to consider.  What will we do to insure that there hasn’t been a frame-up?  Will the Innocence Project arguments be tainted now?

What’s the impact upon people like David Eugene Johnston, setting on Florida’s Death Row while the Florida Supreme Court awaits DNA test results from a North Carolina lab?  Johnston was scheduled to be executed in May.  DNA testing may save his life - but will the State use Frumkin to muddy the waters?

http://www.swartzlenamon.com/deathpenaltyblog/scientists-reveal-dna-evidence-can-be-faked-and-its-not-hard-to-do-the-implications-upon-florida-criminal-defense

[MuffyBee]

Thanks, Nut.