NCJ Number
209224
Journal
Forensic Magazine Volume: 2 Issue: 1 Dated: February/March 2005 Pages: 12-15
Date Published
February 2005
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes California's system for processing large numbers of DNA samples in compliance with Proposition 69, which requires that by 2009 any adult arrested for a felony offense must submit a DNA sample for inclusion in the California Data Bank.
Abstract
The DNA sample submission rate is anticipated to increase from 40,000 samples per year to over 200,000. This has required the laboratory responsible for processing these samples, the Jan Bashinski DNA Laboratory in Richmond, CA, to revise the way samples are collected and processed. The first step was to change the source of the DNA being collected. In the fall of 2004, California switched from collecting liquid blood as its source of offender DNA to oral cheek cells, also known as buccal cells. This has simplified and reduced the cost of the DNA collection process. DNA collection kits are sent by the State to all prisons, police and sheriff's departments, and State hospitals that have occasion to process qualifying offenders. After the lab receives the sample, the buccal DNA collector is converted into something more conducive to automation and archiving, using high-throughput sample-punching devices. A specimen information card (SIC) has been designed that provides ample space for all offender personal information and thumbprints while allowing integration of the sample from the buccal DNA collector to the attached cassette. The newly designed SIC can be separated into two portions: a 2" x 4" cassette portion that contains the sample designed to be loaded into the chosen sample punching device, and an information portion that can be scanned, entered into the database, and then archived. Once the punches are taken from the cassettes and dropped into a 96-well plate for DNA analysis, there are a number of extraction procedures that can be used to extract the DNA from the punches. 4 figures