PRINCETON, N.J. -- Orchid BioSciences, Inc. this week announced that its Orchid Cellmark unit, a leader in private forensic DNA testing, has been awarded an exclusive contract by the U.S. National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to create genetic profiles from DNA samples from felons in the State of Illinois for addition to the FBI

Laboratory's national Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS.  The

multi-million dollar one-year contract to test more than 100,000 felons, which

was awarded following a competitive bid process, is the largest state CODIS

contract to date.  Further details of the agreement were not disclosed.

   

"We are pleased to be selected as the exclusive provider of CODIS DNA

profiles for Illinois and to help the state in its efforts to more rapidly

link crime scene evidence to existing DNA data from felons," said Mark

Stolorow, executive director of Orchid Cellmark.  "The national CODIS database

is becoming an ever more effective crime-solving tool to identify serial

offenders, particularly as an increasing number of convicted-offender DNA

profiles are included in the system."

   

The CODIS system makes it possible for federal, state, and local crime

labs to compare DNA profiles electronically, thereby linking crime scene

evidence to the DNA of convicted offenders. According to the FBI, more than

1.7 million DNA profiles of individuals convicted of sex offenses and other

violent crimes are now included in the database shared at the national level.

Yet more than 525,000 samples of DNA evidence from serious crimes held by

local police departments have not yet been analyzed against the CODIS

database. 

 

The Illinois contract awarded to Orchid Cellmark is part of a

federally-financed effort by the U.S. Department of Justice's National

Institute of Justice to help states and localities analyze convicted offender

samples and DNA evidence from the large casework backlogs of DNA evidence for

use with CODIS. 

 

Congress is considering proposed legislation to extend current funding in response to the President's $1 Billion DNA Backlog Reduction initiative.  "The Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act of ," introduced by Senators Joseph Biden and Orrin Hatch, would provide $755 million in additional funding over five years to state and local authorities to eliminate the DNA backlog and to test evidence from new crimes in a timely manner.

   

"Orchid is proud to be playing an active role in helping states apply

these new federal monies to rapidly and efficiently reduce their DNA

backlogs," said Paul J. Kelly, MD, chief executive officer of Orchid

BioSciences.  "Orchid Cellmark has won a significant portion of NIJ-funded

state contracts awarded to private forensic laboratories so far this year.  As

one of the oldest and largest private DNA forensic labs in the nation, we

think it is particularly appropriate that we are increasing our efforts to

help reduce this large DNA evidence backlog and to enable local authorities to

make more effective use of CODIS."

   

Statistics show that many offenders who have been convicted of felonies,

such as rape and other violent crimes, are likely to commit subsequent

offenses.  By more rapidly generating DNA profiles of convicted offenders and

processing "no-suspect" DNA evidence, local law enforcement agencies are able

to solve more crimes and to do so more quickly, thereby reducing the chance

that repeat offenders will go on to commit new crimes during the time they

remain at large.  The potential power of CODIS as a crime-fighting tool is

illustrated by the experience in the U.K., which is considered a global leader

in assembling a comprehensive DNA database of offenders.  The U.K.'s

"cold-hit" rate, that is, the percentage of DNA crime scene evidence that

matches the DNA of a criminal already in the system, has grown to 50 percent

as the database has expanded over the last several years.

   

A recent case dramatically highlighted the crime-prevention potential of

CODIS.  On June 15, , Jerry Bellamy was arrested for the rape and murder of

a 13-year New Jersey schoolgirl.  Bellamy was in prison on a separate sex

offense but was due to be released, and he soon would have been at large.

Although it was 33 years after the murder, local New Jersey detectives sent a

small sample of stored evidence to Orchid Cellmark where scientists analyzed

DNA that CODIS identified as belonging to Bellamy, thereby enabling his

continuing incarceration and the probable resolution of this long unsolved

crime.

   

All three of the Orchid Cellmark's U.S-based laboratories have received

the prestigious accreditation of the American Society of Crime Laboratory

Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB).  Orchid Cellmark's

laboratories are also certified by the American Association of Blood Banks and

the New York State Department of Health. Its Dallas and Nashville laboratories

are also accredited by the National Forensic Science Technology Center.

 

Source:  Orchid Cellmark and Orchid BioSciences