February 2013

Rapid DNA – Disruptive New Technology

Breaking the Cycle of Repeat Crimes

By Bruce Jamieson

Sr. Director Sales, IntegenX Human Identification Products

BruceJ@integenX.com (M) +1 408 813 2344

Introduction: DNA as a forensic tool has been used to link suspects to crime scene evidence for

the past three decades. The latest breakthrough in DNA forensics, Rapid DNA testing, promises

to be a disruptive new technology that will dramatically improve the effectiveness of criminal

justice systems worldwide. By reducing the turnaround time of suspect samples from days, weeks

or even months to 90 minutes, law enforcement officials, forensic scientists and prosecutors can

apply this tool to a wider variety of crimes. They are preparing for this amazing breakthrough by

validating the technology, running pilot studies and examining workflows to make sure they can

quickly take full advantage of Rapid DNA. This paper describes the current state of DNA as a

forensics tool, the emerging technology of Rapid DNA, and some early uses of the first

commercial implementation of Rapid DNA – the IntegenX RapidHIT™ 200 Human

Identification System.

DNA in Forensics, current situation

DNA evidence – a human identification

technique based on measurements of the length

of pre-determined locations, or loci, on the

human genome, is far more accurate than

physical fingerprints. It is often left behind

crime scenes in the form of blood, saliva on

drink bottles and cigarette butts, and even by

touching surfaces such as broken glass, door

knobs and window latches, affording many more

opportunities to collect crime scene evidence

than traditional fingerprints. Concerns of

violating genetic privacy are unfounded as this

type of DNA analysis does not indicate any

healthcare information. The loci chosen for

identification purposes do not code for any

known physical or genetic characteristics and is

therefore not associated with privacy issues

related to genetic disposition to inherited

diseases. A powerful tool, DNA identification is

most often used for violent crimes (murders and

sexual assaults) and other major crimes as

forensic capacity allows. As our reliance on

DNA evidence has grown, so have crime lab

backlogs. In the U.S., state, regional and local

crime labs are hard pressed to keep up with

demand in spite of the growing use of highly

automated workstations that perform the

majority of routine tasks such as extraction,

purification, amplification by PCR, separation

by capillary electrophoresis and detection. Data

analysis can also be automated with forensic

review for final determination. However, once

DNA profiles from suspects and/or crime scene

evidence have been determined in the crime lab,

the value comes from comparing suspect

samples to crime scenes – either the current

crime scene or past unsolved cases. Exoneration

of suspects that don’t match the crime scene data

prevents unnecessary law enforcement effort and

costs of investigating the wrong suspects, and

focuses efforts and financial resources on the

right suspects. To accomplish this requires the

use of one or more data bases to search suspect

profiles against crime scene evidence. Most

crimes are not singular events but repeated by

the same perpetrators over and over until caught

and prosecuted. The U.S. National Offender

Database, called CODIS (Combined DNA Index

System) is a set of national, state and local

databases that provide both a framework and

data for matching suspects to current and past

crimes. Access to CODIS is provided to

qualifying, accredited government labs - the

same labs that process the DNA suspect and

crime scene samples. The opportunity to expand

the use of DNA to more crimes, and more types

of crimes would require these labs that are

already at or beyond their capacity to process

considerably more samples. If the use of DNA is

to expanded into high-volume property crimes

then capacity must be expanded. This can be

done by spending considerably more tax dollars

on lab space, equipment and personnel, or by

using Rapid DNA to help with capacity.

There is another consideration as well - while

CODIS is effective for violent crimes at the

national level, most high-volume crimes are

local. Therefore local database access must be

expanded in order to populate local crime scene

data and suspect data to match at the local or

state levels. This could make use of the local

component of CODIS (called LDIS) or could be

through the use of private databases that are

becoming more prevalent due to their ease of

access to a wider spectrum of local law

enforcement agencies and private contract

service labs.

Rapid DNA for More Crimes and More

Types of Crimes

A study conducted by five cities under a

Department of Justice grant made the following

bold claims in an April 2008 article (Roman):

• Property crime cases where DNA evidence is

processed have more than twice as many

suspects identified, twice as many suspects

arrested, and more than twice as many cases

accepted for prosecution compared with

traditional investigation:

• DNA is at least five times as likely to result in

a suspect identification compared with

fingerprints;

• Suspects identified by DNA had at least twice

as many prior felony arrests and convictions as

those identified by traditional investigation;

• Blood evidence results in better case outcomes

than other biological evidence, particularly

evidence from items that were handled or

touched;

• Biological material collected by forensic

technicians is no more likely to result in a

suspect being identified than biological material

collected by patrol officers.

With such clear benefit to society, why hasn’t

DNA been expanded to more crimes today, as

that study was done over 5 years ago? The issue

is how to expand existing forensic capacity to

handle a dramatically increased sample load that

would occur from the use of DNA to investigate

high-volume property crimes. Crime labs with

existing methods and staffing levels are already

running at their capacity with the current

workload of processing DNA, supporting violent

crimes, and are typically not able to consider

expanding the use of DNA to higher volume

property crimes. What’s called for is a

breakthrough in technology, and Rapid DNA

holds the promise of doing just that.

The FBI/DoD/DHS Task Force on Rapid DNA

has defined a new vision for Rapid DNA“…will

provide the Nation’s law enforcement agencies

the capability to collect and develop an arrested

individual's DNA during the normal time it

takes to process a subject at intake…” (Urban)

This suggests several hurdles including

processing an arrestee’s DNA in the time they

can be held, and performing the processing local

to the arrest. Typically the vision is to process

suspect/arrestee samples at the booking station.

This would require speed and automation,

similar to how breath alcohol analyzers operate

today. Most booking stations have breathalyzers

that can be operated by trained law enforcement

officers, so that evidence can be collected upon

intake. For DNA to be used more broadly this

model must be met – processing DNA from

suspects must be quick and easy.

IntegenX RapidHIT™ 200 Human

Identification System

Described as a “DNA Lab in a Box”, the

RapidHIT™ from IntegenX easily meets the

criteria set out by the FBI for rapid DNA as it

processes 5 suspect samples in 90 minutes, is

fully automated and can be placed in a booking

station, while connected to a crime lab

electronically for data review and technical

oversight. Cartridge based, the chemistry is the

same as used by crime labs and can be setup in

less than 5 minutes and is self-contained.

Everything needed for a run of 5 suspect

samples is contained on a set of small cartridges

easily inserted into the RapidHIT. Upon

completion, all waste goes back into the

cartridges. By changing out the used cartridges

for fresh, the system is again ready to run in

minutes. Law enforcement officers have been

successfully trained to gather DNA evidence

samples, and have been effective at running the

RapidHIT with proper forensic oversight.

This should be a game changer!

Disruptive Technologies are Messy

Introducing innovative new technologies is not a

task for everyone. Disrupting existing work

flows in order to re-engineer a process to allow

the insertion of a disruptive new technology

requires considerable effort and causes trouble

for those involved. The early adopters, or

pioneers, of new technologies are those that

embrace the new capability because they can see

the eventual benefits. Holding the vision of a

better way in mind, they push through barriers,

overcome opposition (“We’ve always done it

this way”) and drive toward successful

integration of a new technique into the everyday

work flow. Rewards eventually come, but the

process requires perseverance and fortitude in

order to transform our world. Rapid DNA is

likely such a disruptive technology and requires

effort by the pioneers from the forensics

community, law enforcement, and prosecutors.

Some of these pioneers are already at work,

examining existing work flows, testing Rapid

DNA and conducting pilot studies to determine

the limits, operating parameters and use cases

for this outstanding new tool.

Rapid DNA in Action

One of the highly valuable uses for Rapid DNA

is to identify individuals and families seeking

asylum outside the U.S. as refugees. A

RapidHIT has been validated and will be used in

a pilot study for refugees using DNA to identify

individuals and make sure they are not

connected with any known crimes. It can also be

used to check familial relationships to assure

that children seeking asylum are related to the

claimed parents. Should this prove successful,

implementation globally would be highly

valuable to the U.S. government and other

countries.

A mid-sized city in central Florida, Palm Bay,

has been successfully using DNA to fight high-

volume property crimes for over 6 years. This

required developing a relationship with a private

contract service organization, DNA Si:

Laboratories of Burlington, NC, to process

property crime and suspect samples and build a

local database. In short order, this system started

linking suspects to crimes and yielded a

dramatic reduction in high volume crimes

(nearly a 40% decrease over a four year study)

while increasing the case closure rate for Palm

Bay Police Department to nearly three times the

national average (Blackledge).

This positive experience with expanding the use

of DNA into high-volume property crimes has

provided the basis for Palm Bay P.D. and their

partner lab, DNA Si: Laboratories, to be the first

police agency to put Rapid DNA to the test. The

first RapidHIT™ to be installed in a police

booking station is in place and is being

validated.

The ability for DNA Si: Labs to run the crime

scene samples, and Palm Bay P.D. to process

their own suspect/arrestee samples is a powerful

combination and should produce dramatic

results with the on-going use of DNA for

property crimes.

Results from this effort

will be published as

they become available.

Call to Action

These dramatic

benefits of Rapid DNA

call for increased

attention from local,

state and federal legislators. Even modest

funding, applied to the local level, could produce

similar dramatic results from communities

across the U.S. and globally. Please consider

supporting the expanded use of DNA for more

crimes and more types of crimes by contacting

your local, state and federal legislators to push

for financial and legislative support.

References

Roman, John; Reid, Shannon; Reid, Jay; Chalfin, Aaron; Adams, William; Knight, Carly. “The DNA Field

Experiment: Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Use of DNA in the Investigation of High-Volume Crimes.” April

2008. Urban Institute / Justice Policy Center.

Blackledge, John; Swiger, Roy; Muldoon, Douglas. “Intelligence-Led Policing Using DNA.” FBI National

Academy Associate, April 2012.

From personal interview with Chief Diane Urban, Hayward, CA Police Department and member of the

FBI/DoD/DHS Rapid DNA Task Force.