02-25-2011, 07:37 PM
Spriggs said DNA testing isn’t an automatic process because the lab must first receive crime scene materials from law enforcement. Then a screening process takes place in which technicians have to determine whether there are any traces of DNA on the materials.
Screening for semen, blood or saliva from one bed sheet takes about eight hours, Spriggs said.
Spriggs said before it can be tested, DNA is removed from the crime-scene material.
“You have to extract the DNA first, which can take two days to get it out of the sample,” she said.
Then technicians research how much DNA is available, make copies of it and put it through an instrument for genetic profiling, which can take up to a week, Spriggs said.
After that, technicians study the data, write reports that are technically and administratively reviewed and send the report to the requesting law enforcement agency or district attorney’s office, Spriggs said.
Spriggs said just the screening process of a homicide case could take a few days to two months just for notes, photographs and measurements of evidence on crime-scene materials.
“You want to make sure you cover everything,” she said.
Spriggs said certain cases, including those without suspects and those already taken to court, have priority in DNA processing.
“It depends on what kind of case it is,” she said. “Homicide, rape all get priority before burglary, robbery. When you only have four people doing DNA … you have to triage your cases and do the suspectless ones first and (the ones with) court dates.”
( Auburn Journal)
Screening for semen, blood or saliva from one bed sheet takes about eight hours, Spriggs said.
Spriggs said before it can be tested, DNA is removed from the crime-scene material.
“You have to extract the DNA first, which can take two days to get it out of the sample,” she said.
Then technicians research how much DNA is available, make copies of it and put it through an instrument for genetic profiling, which can take up to a week, Spriggs said.
After that, technicians study the data, write reports that are technically and administratively reviewed and send the report to the requesting law enforcement agency or district attorney’s office, Spriggs said.
Spriggs said just the screening process of a homicide case could take a few days to two months just for notes, photographs and measurements of evidence on crime-scene materials.
“You want to make sure you cover everything,” she said.
Spriggs said certain cases, including those without suspects and those already taken to court, have priority in DNA processing.
“It depends on what kind of case it is,” she said. “Homicide, rape all get priority before burglary, robbery. When you only have four people doing DNA … you have to triage your cases and do the suspectless ones first and (the ones with) court dates.”
( Auburn Journal)