If they have a case with very few leads, police now have another tool in their arsenal that will at least provide one distinct factor. The eye color of the perp. Let’s say a bad guy left some DNA at a crime scene. That DNA can now be used to predict the suspect’s eye color, according to Manfred Kayser at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands. They have developed IrisPlex, which can predict with 94 percent accuracy whether a person has blue or brown eyes from a simple sample of DNA.
The government will likely approve it within weeks and this is huge news for police since oftentimes they have DNA, but can’t find a match on a DNA database. Right now it isn’t accurate enough to stand up in court, but one day soon it might be.
IrisPlex examines six single-letter variations in DNA, which are strongly linked to eye color, and categorizes them as blue, brown, or “undefined.” Undefined is classified as meaning an intermediate color like green, grey, or a mix. They have already held tests on populations from seven different European countries, where it predicted blue or brown eyes with a high degree of accuracy. This should help them solve many more cases when they implement it.
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1 Comment
Well, must say that 94% accuracy isn’t that much but its a good add to the rest of proofs. Have a wonderful day.