DNA Data Banking: The Dangerous Erosion of Privacy

This article begins by describing the increasing prominence of DNA evidence in legal matters, before explaining how investigatory agencies wish to use DNA in their criminal investigations: primarily DNA banks and DNA testing large portions of the population in the wake of a crime. The article goes on to discuss privacy concerns about DNA profiling and DNA databanks. It discusses the differences between traditional fingerprint banks, and the greater privacy threats posed by the DNA banks. It moves on to point out the various public and private sector abuses possible with wide-spread DNA profiling. Finally, the authors suggest that legislation should be passed at the state level until Congress can pass a more comprehensive federal statute governing the use of DNA information and collection

DNA Data Banking: The Dangerous Erosion of Privacy

This article begins by describing the increasing prominence of DNA evidence in legal matters, before explaining how investigatory agencies wish to use DNA in their criminal investigations: primarily DNA banks and DNA testing large portions of the population in the wake of a crime. The article goes on to discuss privacy concerns about DNA profiling and DNA databanks. It discusses the differences between traditional fingerprint banks, and the greater privacy threats posed by the DNA banks. It moves on to point out the various public and private sector abuses possible with wide-spread DNA profiling. Finally, the authors suggest that legislation should be passed at the state level until Congress can pass a more comprehensive federal statute governing the use of DNA information and collection

Exploring the Challenges of Forensic Technology in Responding to Identity Document Theft in Polokwane Policing Area, South Africa

This study explores the challenges of forensic technology in responding to Identity Document (ID) theft as an approach used by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Polokwane policing area. This study further evaluates the availability of technological and conventional resources to respond to this scourge, as well as the capabilities of the SAPS to utilise the available [lack of forensic technology] resources to respond best to ID theft. This was done by analysing preventative measures, associated with these challenges, as faced by SAPS and other relevant stakeholders on responding to this crime in the Polokwane Central Business District (CBD), Bendor Park, and Flora Park, coupled with the number of stores situated in the business sectors of these selected areas. For this study, the researchers adopted a quantitative research approach with 90 respondents in the identified areas. This study established that the secretive nature of ID theft makes it difficult for the relevant stakeholders (Not limited to the local SAPS, Businesses, and Public members as presented by this study) to effectively respond to this scourge. Negatively, the forefront gatekeepers to respond to this crime are mainly SAPS Constables with less training to investigates ID theft properly. Thus, find themselves being more reactive than proactive, which contributes to the difficulty of locating potential perpetrators in the process of conventional investigations applications. Furthermore, ID thieves utilise advanced technological resources (I.e. Computer hacking software), as opposed to SAPS which does not have systems nor capacity to effectively respond to this crime. The limited resources at the disposal of SAPS also renders its effort in responding to this crime inadequate. For recommendations; significant emphases should be directed on the promotion of public awareness through public education for the use of forensic technology as an investigative and identification tool of responding to ID theft. The intensive training of SAPS officials and inter-governmental corroboration between SAPS, Department of Home Affairs (DHA), and other relevant stakeholders in understanding this technology are highly advised

Distributed authentication to preserve privacy through smart card based biometric matching

Bibliography: pages 135-139.This thesis focuses on privacy concerns, specifically those relating to the storage and use of biometrics. These concerns result from the fact that biometric information is unique. This uniqueness makes the biometric a very strong identifier increasing the possibility that it could be used to monitor an individual's activities. An expert can extract considerable information from a biometric scan, ranging from the age or gender to whether the individual has certain diseases

Spectroscopic And Chromatographic Approach For The Chemical Fingerprinting Of Gelsemium Elegans Via Hptlc, Lc-Ms, Ft-Ir And Nmr

Chemical fingerprints are commonly used to perform the authentication and identification of Chinese herbal medicines (CHM). During the last few years, the fingerprint method has been developed for quality control of Chinese herbal medicines. Fingerprinting is a method that evaluates the characteristic pattern of the ingredients using one or more identification techniques. Therefore, in this study, the spectroscopic and chromatographic fingerprints of Gelsemium elegans were studied by using four analytical instruments, namely the HPTLC, LC-MS, FT-IR tri-step identification, and NMR. The purpose of this study was to compare different analytical methods on Gelsemium elegans from Fu Jian and Guang Xi province as the object of study to distinguish between the stem, leaf and root as they contained different amounts of indole alkaloid that contributes to its toxicity. The differentiation between the different parts was difficult as they came from the same species and shared similar properties and active compounds. However, the three different parts of Gelsemium elegans was successfully distinguished by the four instruments. Besides that, two abundant active compound present in Gelsemium elegans, gelsemine and koumine was qualitatively studied in HPTLC and LC-PDA-QDa. Furthermore, LC-MS/MS conditions were also developed for quantitative determination of gelsemine and koumine in Gelsemium elegans. The content of Koumine was also used to cross check the quantity in LC-MS/MS by HPTLC. Both methods showed good precision, recovery, stability and repeatability

Biometric Identification, Law and Ethics

This book undertakes a multifaceted and integrated examination of biometric identification, including the current state of the technology, how it is being used, the key ethical issues, and the implications for law and regulation. The five chapters examine the main forms of contemporary biometrics–fingerprint recognition, facial recognition and DNA identification– as well the integration of biometric data with other forms of personal data, analyses key ethical concepts in play, including privacy, individual autonomy, collective responsibility, and joint ownership rights, and proposes a raft of principles to guide the regulation of biometrics in liberal democracies.Biometric identification technology is developing rapidly and being implemented more widely, along with other forms of information technology. As products, services and communication moves online, digital identity and security is becoming more important. Biometric identification facilitates this transition. Citizens now use biometrics to access a smartphone or obtain a passport; law enforcement agencies use biometrics in association with CCTV to identify a terrorist in a crowd, or identify a suspect via their fingerprints or DNA; and companies use biometrics to identify their customers and employees. In some cases the use of biometrics is governed by law, in others the technology has developed and been implemented so quickly that, perhaps because it has been viewed as a valuable security enhancement, laws regulating its use have often not been updated to reflect new applications. However, the technology associated with biometrics raises significant ethical problems, including in relation to individual privacy, ownership of biometric data, dual use and, more generally, as is illustrated by the increasing use of biometrics in authoritarian states such as China, the potential for unregulated biometrics to undermine fundamental principles of liberal democracy. Resolving these ethical problems is a vital step towards more effective regulation.Ethics & Philosophy of Technolog

RESKO: Repositioning drugs by using side effects and knowledge from ontologies

The objective of drug repositioning is to apply existing drugs to different diseases or medical conditions than the original target, and thus alleviate to a certain extent the time and cost expended in drug development. Our system RESKO, REpositioning drugs using Side Effects and Knowledge from Ontologies, identifies drugs with similar side-effects which are potential candidates for use elsewhere, the supposition is that similar side-effects may be caused by drugs targeting similar proteins and pathways. RESKO, integrates drug chemical data, protein interaction and ontological knowledge. The novel aspects of our system include a high level of biological knowledge through the use of pathway and biological ontology integration. This provides a explanation facility lacking in most of the existing methods and improves the repositioning process. We evaluate the shared side effects from the eight conventional Alzheimer drugs, from which sixty-seven candidate drugs based on a side-effect commonality were identified. The top 25 drugs on the list were further investigated in depth for their suitability to be repositioned, the literature revealed that many of the candidate drugs appear to have been trialed for Alzheimer's disease. Thus verifying the accuracy of our system, we also compare our technique with several competing systems found in the literature

Translational Oncogenomics and Human Cancer Interactome Networks

An overview of translational, human oncogenomics, transcriptomics and cancer interactomic networks is presented together with basic concepts and potential, new applications to Oncology and Integrative Cancer Biology. Novel translational oncogenomics research is rapidly expanding through the application of advanced technology, research findings and computational tools/models to both pharmaceutical and clinical problems. A self-contained presentation is adopted that covers both fundamental concepts and the most recent biomedical, as well as clinical, applications. Sample analyses in recent clinical studies have shown that gene expression data can be employed to distinguish between tumor types as well as to predict outcomes. Potentially important applications of such results are individualized human cancer therapies or, in general, ‘personalized medicine’. Several cancer detection techniques are currently under development both in the direction of improved detection sensitivity and increased time resolution of cellular events, with the limits of single molecule detection and picosecond time resolution already reached. The urgency for the complete mapping of a human cancer interactome with the help of such novel, high-efficiency / low-cost and ultra-sensitive techniques is also pointed out