 Brain Fingerprinting
Brain fingerprinting is a technique that reads the recognition of familiarity by electrical brain wave responses to words, pictures, or phrases that are presented on a screen. It was invented by Dr. Lawrence Farwell. The BF theory is that the suspect’s reaction will reflect if they had any knowledge of the event or activity before questioned. The test uses MERMER (memory and encoding related multifaceted electroencephalographic response) to detect any familiarity. The person wears a special headpiece with electronic sensors that measure the EEG (electroencephalographic) from several places. In order for BF to work, the person tested is shown a series of irrelevant words, phrases, and pictures. Then, a series of relevant words, phrases and pictures are shown. The subject’s brain can respond in to different ways. Usually, the stimuli in the brain respond more to the relevant than the irrelevant.
BF testing has been proven to be very accurate in over two hundred tests; Most of these tests were on real criminal cases. In all but six cases, the test came up with “information present,” or “information absent.” 100% of the determinations by brain fingerprinting were correct. In the six cases, insufficient information was available, so no decision was made. Dr. Farwell found that the P300 was one aspect of larger brain wave response. The invention of the MERMER made the P300 testing almost twice as accurate.
 Genetic Fingerprinting
Genetic fingerprinting, DNA testing, DNA typing, and DNA profiling are techniques used to distinguish individuals (of the same species) by using DNA samples. It was invented by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester in 1985. It is very unlikely to have identical DNA make-ups except in the cases of identical twins.
GF is used in forensic science, to make suspect’s samples of blood, hair, saliva or semen. It has also been used in identifying human remains, paternity testing, and even matching organ donors. It has also been used to generate hypotheses on the pattern of human diaspora in ancient times.
There are several different types of DNA Fingerprinting:
 RFLP Analysis
When DNA fingerprinting first came into use, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) was used. Today, RFLP has been almost completely replaced by other methods. RFLP is performed by using a restriction enzyme to slice the DNA into fragments, which are then separated into bands during agarose gel electrophoresis. The bands are then transferred (using Southern blotting) from the agarose gel to a nylon membrane. The sample is treated with a radioactive DNA probe which binds to certain DNA sequences in the membrane. X-Ray film that is placed next to the nylon membrane detects the radioactive pattern, and is then developed to make a visible pattern of bands (the DNA fingerprint). Using multiple probes targeting various polymorphisms, a pretty high degree of discrimination was possible. The only down side to RFLP is that the exact sizes of the bands are undeterminable.
 PCR Analysis
With polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA fingerprinting took a big step forward in narrowing down, and the ability to recover information from very small samples. PCR amplifies specific regions of DNA using a stable temperature and a thermostable polymerase enzyme, along with specific primers. The complaints about RFLP were that it was very slow, and it required very large samples of DNA. The complaints of RFLP led to the creation of PCR, which required smaller amounts of DNA. The downside of PCR is that it is very difficult to discriminate DNA from mixed samples.
 Y-chromosome Analysis
Recent innovations include the creation of primers targeting polymorphic regions on Y-chromosomes. This allows resolution of many male profiles or in some cases where a differential extraction is impossible. Y-Chromosomes are inherited by parents, so Y-STR analysis can reveal the identity of paternally related males. It was used on the Sally Hemings controversy to see if Thomas Jefferson hired a son with one of his slaves.
 Mitochondrial analysis
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is sometimes typed because there are too many copies of mtDNA in a cell, while there are only one or two copies of the nuclear DNA. Forensic scientists amplify the HV1 and HV2 regions, and sequence each region, comparing single nucleotide differences. mtDNA is maternally inherited, and is used to match references. A difference in two or more nucleotides is called exclusion. Heteroplasmy and poly-C differences can make straight sequences useless. This type of analysis is useful for clearing up unknown identities. mtDNA was used to determine that Anna Anderson was not the princess of Russia who she claimed to be, Anastasia Romanov. mtDNA can be taken from hair shafts, and old bones/teeth.
Here is the link for an article that shows the use of mitochondrial analysis:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2194/is_8_71/ai_90819640
 Paternity Testing
A paternity test is used to prove paternity; To prove if a man is the biological father of another. It could be relevant in the duties in rights in the eye of the father. Just as a paternity test can be done, so can a maternity test. Maternity tests are less common, because most children are born naturally; They are usually used when the pregnancy involves egg donation or an embryo transfer.
This can be done through DNA analysis of the parents and the child. Older methods have included ABO blood group typing (the classification of presence or absence of inherited antigenic substances on the red blood cells), or the analysis of various proteins and enzymes. The current techniques are polymerase chain reaction, and RFLP.
Today, scientists can determine paternity twelve weeks into pregnancy using non-invasive testing. All it takes is a blood sample from the pregnant woman’s arm. The blood carries the fetus’ DNA, which is then compared to the DNA of the “father.”
In the United Kingdom, there used to be no restrictions on paternity tests. In September 2006, the Human Tissue Act came into play. Section 45 says, “it is an offence to posses without appropriate consent any human bodily material with the intent of analyzing its DNA." Legally appointed fathers have access to paternity testing under the new regulations. Tests are occasionally ordered by courts when paternity proof is required. In the UK, the Department for Constitutional Affairs endorses bodies which can carry out this form of testing. The Department of Health is updating is voluntary code of genetic paternity testing. |
