DNAPrint Secures a Distributor for its DNAWitness(TM) Test to Better Serve Law Enforcement
18-Feb-2004
DNAPrint genomics, Inc. (DNAPrint or the "Company") has teamed up with Lynn Peavey Company of Kansas City to advance the use of DNAWitness(TM) in the law enforcement community. Lynn Peavey is the leader in providing law enforcement with forensic innovations for use at the crime scene and in the laboratory. Lynn Peavey reaches over 17,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. DNAWitness(TM) is an advanced presumptive DNA test that determines the Biogeographical ancestry of an individual with no other information but the person's genetic code.
"This is a great opportunity to give our customer base another shot at solving the mystery of committed crimes...because, often they have no idea of which direction to go in an investigation once the leads have not produced a suspect," said Doug Peavey, President of Lynn Peavey Company.
"This partnership will increase our presence in the law enforcement community," said Zach Gaskin, Technical Director of forensics with DNAPrint. "This is the opportunity that we needed to get the DNAWitness test into the hands of the people who need it most. There are over 70,000 unsolved cases in the National DNA Index System, and many of them could benefit from this testing. We are excited about the distributorship because the Lynn Peavey Company is a well-respected supplier in the law enforcement community and already does business with most of the agencies in the U.S."
"DNAWitness, our flagship product for the detective is a presumptive test, and Doug Peavey's company is well positioned to offer this test to the crime lab and detective community," said Richard Gabriel, CEO and President. "We continue to invest in our technology for the forensics market because the crime numbers are staggering. Our laboratory can process thousands of samples per day but getting the law enforcement community to use our product requires the help and support of Lynn Peavey Company. Doug's company sends catalogs all over the world, and we are prepared to help detectives solve crimes no matter where they occur. In the state of Florida, there were over 26,000 aggravated sexual assaults, extrapolate that over all the states, then Europe, then South America ... these are staggering statistics." He concluded, "We are teaming up with Lynn Peavey Company and offering training seminars on how, where, why, when to use DNAWitness. The kit itself is free but if you don't know how to use it and when and why and what it tells you, then it doesn't mean much to a detective. Our goal is to have detectives, medical examiners and crime labs use our service to help them catch criminals, identify unknown remains and solve cold cases. We are another tool in their kit."
"DNAWitness has been a powerful instrument in testing crime scene DNA left by the donor," said Tony Frudakis, Chief Scientific Officer and Founder of DNAPrint genomics, Inc. "We continue to add features to the product and we expect that soon, detectives will have another new feature, eye color; then later on skin shade, maybe height and other descriptors. We want every criminal to know that when they commit a crime, they left behind a fuzzy photo, a blurry driver's license with no name on it. Detectives are really good at working with seemingly disconnected and sparse evidence, and adding the name to the fuzzy photo is in their realm of expertise. This presumptive test can be used on all crimes, not just the murders but the sexual assaults, burglaries, car thefts, robberies, and many other pieces of evidence. Law enforcement officers across the world know that crimes such as these can and often do lead to the more violent crimes, murder being the worst."
DNAPrint genomics, Inc. and Lynn Peavey Company are attending the 56th Annual American Academy of Forensic Science Meeting in Dallas in February 2004 where Zach Gaskin is presenting on the use of DNAWitness in the Louisiana Serial Killer Case.
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