The structure of life
Professor Jeffreys says he had a "eureka moment" in his lab in Leicester after looking at the X-ray film image of a DNA experiment on 10 September 1984, which unexpectedly showed both similarities and differences between the DNA of different members of his technician's family. Within about half an hour, he continued, he realized the possible scope of DNA fingerprinting, which uses variations in the genetic code to identify individuals.
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Jeffreys's DNA method was first put to use in 1985 when he was asked to help in a disputed immigration case to confirm the identity of a British boy whose family was originally from Ghana. The case was resolved when the DNA results proved that the boy was closely related to the other members of the family, and Jeffreys saw the relief in the mother's face when she heard the results.
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DNA fingerprinting was first used in a police forensic test to identify the killer of two teenagers, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, who had been raped and murdered in Narborough, Leicestershire, in 1983 and 1986 respectively. Colin Pitchfork was identified and convicted of their murders after samples taken from him matched semen samples taken from the two dead girls. This turned out to be a specifically important identification; British authorities believe that without it an innocent man would have inevitably been convicted. Not only did Jeffreys's work in this case prove who the real killer was, but it exonerated Richard Buckland, initially a prime suspect, who likely would have spent his life in prison otherwise.
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Despite two life sentences of 20 years each Pitchfork now wants to be released from prison!
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In 1992, Jeffreys' methods were used to confirm the identity for German prosecutors of the Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele, who had died in 1979, by comparing DNA obtained from a femur bone of his exhumed skeleton, with DNA from his widow and son, in a similar way to paternity testing
Source: Wikipedia
Images: Believed to be in the Public Domain or used with permission
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