Photo courtesy of Frederic Zenhausern.
Phoenix has developed a breakthrough technology that brings the portrayal of forensic science on popular crime shows a little closer to reality.
Frederic Zenhausern, a professor at the Center for Applied NanoBioscience and Medicine in the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, gave a presentation Friday at the Arizona Science Center about the differences between fiction’s take on forensics and the reality behind the science.
The presentation featured Zenhausern’s Mutation Identification DNA Analysis System, a desktop printer-sized box that he described as robust, user-friendly and “clumsy-proof.” MIDAS, a portable DNA analyzer, can be transported directly to a crime scene, eliminating some of the issues that arise when taking DNA to a laboratory for testing.
“Can we improve this process?” Zenhausern asked during the presentation. “Can we help people sooner rather than later?”
Zenhausern said MIDAS processes its results much faster, in a matter of hours rather than days or weeks. This is beneficial in the judicial system, where authorities are forced to release arrested suspects within 48 hours if they cannot provide proof for detainment. Thanks to MIDAS, police forces don’t always have to release and then wait another week to rearrest potential criminals.
Kerry Wilcoxon, a traffic engineer from Scottsdale, came to Zenhausern’s presentation out of curiosity for “the legal and human aspects of what the ramifications are of the technology.” He said he was pleasantly surprised by the improvement in the time frame for conducting the analysis, saying that “two hours versus two weeks” makes a difference.
Along with an interest from the Phoenix Police Department, MIDAS has now gained attention on a national and international level. Zenhausern said a recently established program with the FBI is working on validating the system for government use and institutions in countries like Canada and Russia are reaching out in want of their own machine.
“We’re at the point now where we’re just trying to validate it as a platform,” Zenhausern said. “Reality is now beyond the fiction.”
Zenhausern listed some of the consequences that have come from the rising popularity of crime dramas on television. He said many jurors have a minimal understanding of forensics and nanobioscience and rely heavily on DNA results to ultimately decide a case. This is commonly referred to as the CSI effect.
“DNA and forensics (are) really getting … very popular,” Zenhausern said. “It can be a tool that helps a lot, but it can also bring about too much expectation.”
DNA samples obtained from crime scenes often turn out to be contaminated and unreliable, Zenhausern said.
On shows like “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “Law and Order,” it only takes a few hours to get DNA analyzed, and then the investigators are on the move again, ready to catch the culprit. Zenhausern said that in the real world, though, it typically takes up to two weeks to get those results back, and even with all the time it takes, DNA analyses are often unreliable and can be easily challenged in a court of law, although that doesn’t generally succeed.
McKinsi Adriance of Chandler said she was shocked to discover the price and high levels of inefficiency of catching a sex offender, who Zenhausern said attacks an average of seven times before they are caught.
“The cost was crazy,” Adriance said. “And to think that proper testing could save all that.”
Zenhausern said he hopes to push the technology further and delve deeper into the process of DNA analysis.
“These technologies will help investigations and speed up the process,” Zenhausern said. “That was the fiction, but the catalyst here is that, really, now this is the nonfiction.”
Contact the reporter at karla.liriano@asu.edu
