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A blood test that will tell users how long they have left to live will go on sale in Britain later this year. The test - which will offer people the opportunity to estimate their lifespan will go on sale for £435.
The controversial technology has come under fire because critics say insurance companies will insist on them before offering policies. But scientists say the test could be vital in the study of age-related illnesses like Alzheimer's and Cancer.
Boffins working on the technology say they will be able to read a person's "biological age" by measuring structure on people's chromosomes called telomeres. The test cannot predict exactly how long a person will live for - but scientists are confident it can offer a reliable estimate.
Maria Blasco, from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre in Madrid, who invented the test, said: "We know that people who are born with shorter telomeres than normal also have a shorter lifespan.
"But we don't know whether longer telomeres are going to give you a longer lifespan. That's not really known in humans.
"What is new about this test is that it is very precise. We can detect very small differences in telomere length and it is a very simple and fast technique where many samples can be analysed at the same time.
"Most importantly, we are able to determine the presence of dangerous telomeres - those that are very short."A blood test that will tell users how long they have left to live will go on sale in... more
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YOU are the juror: would you trust DNA evidence? Most people regard it as near infallible- it produces the right result or no result, exonerating the innocent and securing convictions where other evidence fails.
But DNA is not as objective as you might think. In the first of a two-part investigation, New Scientist reveals that much of the DNA analysis now conducted in crime labs can suffer from worrying subjectivity and bias.
We asked forensic analysts to interpret a sample of real DNA evidence and found that they reached opposing conclusions about whether the suspect matched it or not. Our subsequent survey of labs around the world also shows that there are significant inconsistencies in the guidelines on how to interpret a sample.
The findings suggest that the difference between prison and freedom could often rest on the opinions of a single individual.YOU are the juror: would you trust DNA evidence? Most people regard it as near... more
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by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger
Rand Paul, the Republican senate candidate in Kentucky, is a freewheeling libertarian. Instead of getting some fancy board-certification as an ophthalmologist, Paul decided to “go Galt” and make up his own credentials. Paul founded the National Board of Ophthalmology, ostensibly to certify doctors as qualified eye specialists.
The NBO is run out of Paul’s home in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Paul is the president, is wife is the vice president, and her father Hilton Ashby is the organization’s secretary. Normally medical boards sponsor rigorous exams to ensure the highest professional standards in their respective specialties. “I can’t tell you what the organization does,” Ashby told TPM.
It takes a rugged individualist eye doctor to found an entire medical board just for himself and a few friends. When you think about it, it’s kind of hypocritical of Paul to hold a state-approved medical license. If he were a true libertarian he’d found his own medical board and let the free market decide who’s a “real doctor.”
FDA cracks down on DNA tests
The mean old FDA has ordered that companies offering so-called over-the-counter DNA testing prove that their products actually work. Libertarian Alex Tabarok is outraged. He argues that if the tests don’t actually harm anyone, the government shouldn’t restrict them.
At the American Prospect, Tim Fernholtz replies that the FDA’s decision is just common sense. If a company is claiming to provide medical information, the onus is on them to prove that they are informing the public accurately. Besides, even if the test itself is harmless the results of the test could have life-altering consequences.
Michael Mechanic reports in Mother Jones that one woman became convinced that she’d been the victim of a hospital baby mixup when a over-the-counter DNA test showed that her son wasn’t hers. Kevin Drum of Mother Jones applauds the FDA for getting involved but wonders aloud whether over the counter DNA testing is really that much different from astrology or other dubious prediction methods that are perfectly legal and protected by the First Amendment. Should Magic 8-Balls be allowed to market themselves as pregnancy tests? Signs point to no.
HIV in the Motor City
Former White House staffer Van Jones is raising the alarm about HIV in Detroit, as Todd Heywood reports in the Michigan Messenger. HIV rates in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C. have garnered national headlines, but the crisis in Detroit has gone largely unnoticed. Over half of the zip codes in Detroit report HIV prevalence rates of at least 3%. In the most severely affected zip codes, 6% of the population is HIV positive, an infection level on par with Uganda.
Modeling Christian behavior
A self-proclaimed Christian school in Florida fired a pregnant teacher because she admitted to conceiving her child three weeks before her wedding. Jaretta Hamilton was fired from Southland Christian School for telling the truth about premarital sex, Joseph DiNorcia reports in RH Reality Check. By all accounts Mrs. Hamilton’s job performance was fine. Instead of bearing false witness, she answered an intrusive question truthfully. Apparently the school felt it was more “Christian” for Hamilton’s baby to be born to an unemployed mother. Hamilton is suing for discrimination.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about health care by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Pulse for a complete list of articles on health care reform, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Audit, The Mulch, and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.by Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger
Rand Paul, the Republican senate... more
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Man wrongfully imprisoned for decades happy to start relearning life
By Rich Phillips, CNN
May 24, 2010 8:43 p.m. EDT
Tampa, Florida (CNN) -- Meeting 54-year-old James Bain, the one thing that stands out is that the smile never seems to leave his face. He appears happy and positive, and the bitterness that might be buried inside a man who was wrongly sent to prison for 35 years is nowhere to be found.
"I kind of see myself as a man of God and being like Joseph," he said.
"In a sense, I feel like a bear, coming out of hibernation. Like, they come out to eat, mine would be coming out to enjoy what I have missed."
Bain has missed a lot. His life was returned to him and his family in December, when a Florida judge freed him after DNA testing proved he did not kidnap and rape a 9-year-old boy in 1974 in Lake Wales, Florida.
With the help of the Innocence Project, a national public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA tests, Bain left a Florida courtroom and entered a world he had left a lifetime ago. He is now on the outside, in a world that has changed technologically and socially, and one in which he must now learn how to live -- again.
"I've been planning on going back to school, and getting ready to take my driving test again, and hoping to get a motorcycle license," Bain said.
In the backyard of his mother's home in Tampa, Florida, Bain said that he'd like to tour the country on his motorcycle. CNN spoke with him amidst grapefruit and orange trees that weren't even planted when he went to prison so many years ago.
"You spend 35 years in prison, and just the little things, like a grapefruit tree or an orange tree ... those had vanished for me," he said. "I never thought I'd get a chance to see another one of these."
The past six months have been a whirlwind, and Bain has become a celebrity. He was brought to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by the Martin Luther King Jr. Association for Nonviolence to ring the Liberty Bell on Martin Luther King day.
When it was revealed that his favorite movie was "Titanic," the owners of the Orlando, Florida, exhibit "Titanic -- the Experience" invited him and his family to spend the day at the site, where characters from the movie tell the story of the sunken vessel.
Noting the movie symbolized hope and strength for him while in prison, Bain said the film sends chills through his body.
"To me, it means love and care for what you feel about other persons, like my sisters and mother. I think about that key word from 'Titanic,' 'Don't ever let go,' " Bain said.
Bain was invited to Orlando by Lowell Lytle, the man who portrays the Titanic's captain, Edward Smith. Lytle was touched by the torment James experienced while wrongly imprisoned.
"It just hit me how horrible that must have been. That man's youth was taken away from him," Lytle said. "I thought, I need to do something to help this man. If I can bring a smile to his face ... to be able to take him through this exhibit here, and take him through an experience he will remember forever, that was fun for me."
During the past six months, Bain also has spoken to church groups and organizations.
"I try to show whoever I'm speaking to about choices. That's my key word. Choice. Only you can make it because you have to live with it," he said.
"My choice was snatched. ... It was taken from me. They didn't leave me no alternative. It's like the old saying, the right place at the wrong time."
But Bain insists that he's not bitter. He said he believes he's returned to a better society -- a better country than the one he left in 1974. He points to the fact that an African-American was elected president.
"I saw a big difference when the president changed, which I never dreamed would happen," he said. "To see that change, that goes to show me, now, that there's a lot of good that we've done in this country."
Bain has been living with his mother in Tampa. He's been paid to speak in a couple of places, money that will help tide him over until his big payday. He and his attorneys have filed with the state of Florida for the restitution that Bain is entitled to -- $50,000 for every year he spent behind bars, for a total of $1.75 million. That's a lot of money to most of us, but not nearly enough to make up for 35 years, Bain said.
"Not even if they gave me $100 million," he said. "Even if they gave me that, it still wouldn't replace what I lost."
He said it's the money that's keeping him on his guard -- and is one reason why he doesn't yet have a girlfriend.
"I just don't want no woman to want me for my money, to be honest with you," he said. "... You don't know what they have planned."Man wrongfully imprisoned for decades happy to start relearning life
By Rich... more
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The number of death sentences imposed by US courts has fallen because of a growing number of exonerations through DNA testing, according to a report by a prominent anti-death penalty group.
The Death Penalty Information Centre in Washington says judges and juries imposed fewer death sentences over the past 12 months than at any time since the restoration of execution in 1976.
This year 106 death sentences have been passed, the seventh straight year the number has fallen and sharply down on the high of 328 in 1994. Richard Dieter, DPIC's director and author of the report, said the fall reflected growing concern over the reliability of convictions. "The principal reason is the innocence cases, the exonerations, people getting out because of DNA testing.
"People read about these exonerations, people walking out of prison 20 years after the crime. Jurors are convicting but giving life sentences not the death penalty."The number of death sentences imposed by US courts has fallen because of a growing... more
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35 years of false imprisonment, and this morning, he is back out in the real world. I wish him and his family and friends all the very best.35 years of false imprisonment, and this morning, he is back out in the real world. I... more
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Bartow, Florida (CNN) -- After more than three decades in prison, James Bain is eager to be able to help his wheelchair-bound mother.
If all goes as planned in a Florida courtroom Thursday, Bain, 54, will be allowed to go home for the first time in 35 years -- free from his life sentence thanks to a DNA test that showed he was not the man who took a 9-year-old Lake Wales, Florida, boy from his bed in 1974 and raped him.
"It's just hard to believe," said Bain's mother, Sarah Reed, who has been in and out of hospitals in recent years.
"He was just a child when he went in there. I've been trying to hold on. I've had things wrong with me, and I was afraid I wouldn't be here when he got out," she told CNN.
Of the 245 people in the United States who have been exonerated by DNA testing, none has spent more time behind bars than Bain, according to the Innocence Project, a national organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing.Bartow, Florida (CNN) -- After more than three decades in prison, James Bain is eager... more
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"denying ability to prove innocence violates fundamental rights; many sign as part
of plea-bargain for lighter sentence""denying ability to prove innocence violates fundamental rights; many sign as... more
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Some days, I am ashamed to be an American. Today, I've been astonished and outraged by yesterday's 5-4 Supreme Court decision that prisoners have no constitutional right to DNA testing that might prove their innocence.Some days, I am ashamed to be an American. Today, I've been astonished and... more
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This week, an al Qaeda spokesman revealed he has Jewish ancestry. How DNA testing is unearthing Judaism in the roots of unlikely family trees—and even prompting some people to convert.
When Adam Gadahn, al Qaeda's American spokesman, issued a statement this weekend revealing that his grandfather was Jewish, it caused jaws to drop. But it’s hardly the first time Jewish ancestry has turned up in unexpected places: Madeleine Albright, Fidel Castro, and John Kerry all claim Jewish heritage.
Now, the ranks of “hidden Jews” are suddenly growing. As the personal use of DNA testing gains popularity, more people are unearthing Jewish roots they never knew they had, and such discoveries are raising the question of whether there is in fact a genetic and biological connection to Jewish affiliation—and whether DNA discoveries will make more hidden genetic Jews convert to the religion and become practicing Jews, or at least begin to feel more strongly affiliated with the culture.This week, an al Qaeda spokesman revealed he has Jewish ancestry. How DNA testing is... more
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Movie description>>"Based on true events during the 2000 election, AMERICAN VIOLET tells the astonishing story of Dee Roberts (critically hailed newcomer Nicole Beharie), a 24 year-old African American single mother of four young girls living in a small Texas town who is barely able to make ends meet.
While police drag Dee from work in handcuffs, dumping her in the squalor of the women’s county prison, the powerful local district attorney (Academy Award® nominee Michael O’Keefe) leads an extensive drug bust, sweeping her housing project with military precision. Dee soon discovers she has been charged as a drug dealer.
Even though Dee has no prior drug record and no drugs were found on her in the raid, she is offered a hellish choice: plead guilty and go home as a convicted felon or remain in prison, jeopardizing her custody and risking a long prison sentence.
She chooses to fight the district attorney and the unyielding criminal justice system, risking everything in a battle that forever changes her life and the Texas justice system. AMERICAN VIOLET also stars Academy Award® nominee Alfre Woodard, Emmy Award® winner Charles S. Dutton, Tim Blake Nelson, Will Patton and Xzibit.
NOTE: American Violet was initially inspired by an NPR story by Wade Goodwyn.
That was six years ago. Much of the film was informed by thousands of pages of information provided on a range of stories by the ACLU among others. A variety of media reports and legal documents, including sworn testimony, depositions and affidavits, all of which can be found on the public record also helped us find authentic patterns and voices for our storytelling. Finally, taped interviews with community members who had experienced circumstances similar to those outlined in our work proved useful.
However, American Violet is not a documentary. It is a narrative feature film that is, as it says, based on true events. Some scenes and characters have been fictionalized for dramatic effect and have no relationship to the historical record. Names have been changed to protect the innocent and also to protect this film."Movie description>>"Based on true events during the 2000 election, AMERICAN... more
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The schoolboy alleged to have become a dad aged 12 is not the baby’s father, the Mirror can reveal.
Alfie Patten, now 13, had a £300 DNA test after half a dozen boys claimed to have slept with schoolgirl pal Chantelle Stedman, 15.
It proved the 4ft-tall pupil was not the father of her seven-week-old girl Maisie Roxanne.
The result will be a blow to Alfie who was “devastated” by the boys’ claims and “adored” Maisie.
He was convinced he was the dad after a single night of unprotected sex with Chantelle.The schoolboy alleged to have become a dad aged 12 is not the baby’s father, the... more
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The illegal use of DNA testing to determine the sex of fetuses in the developing world is widely known, but now, concern is growing in the United Kingdom that the availability of prenatal paternity tests is encouraging women to terminate fetuses that are the result of extramarital affairs.The illegal use of DNA testing to determine the sex of fetuses in the developing world... more
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Since 1998, the Center on Wrongful Convictions has been dedicated to identifying and rectifying wrongful convictions and other serious miscarriages of justice.
Narrated by the Center's co-founder and executive director, Rob Warden, this short video highlights the Center's past accomplishments and points to the future of reform.
See if you can spot in the video President-elect Obama and friend of the Center Barack Obama.
Footage from Laurie Feldman's documentary The Innocent, and Rob Hess and News@Northwestern.
Photo credits: Loren Santow and Jennifer Linzer.Since 1998, the Center on Wrongful Convictions has been dedicated to identifying and... more
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Authorities said Monday they have positively identified some of Steve Fossett's remains: two large bones found a half-mile from where the adventurer's plane crashed in California's Sierra Nevada.
Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said DNA tests conducted by the state Department of Justice positively identified the bones as the remains of the millionaire aviator who disappeared last year.
Fossett's widow, Peggy Fossett, released a statement thanking authorities for their work.
"I am hopeful that the DNA identification puts a definitive end to all of the speculation surrounding Steve's death. This has been an incredibly difficult time for me, and I am thankful to everyone who helped bring closure to this tragedy," she said.
The bones were discovered last week, along with Fossett's tennis shoes and Illinois driver's license, which had animal bite marks on them.
Fossett disappeared in September 2007 after taking off from a Nevada ranch owned by hotel magnate Barron Hilton for what was supposed to be a short pleasure flight. Law enforcement, fellow aviators and others launched a costly search that covered 20,000 square miles but turned up empty.
The wreckage of Fossett's plane was discovered last month after a hiker walking off trail in the Sierra Nevada near Mammoth Lakes stumbled across Fossett's pilot's license and a wad of weathered $100 bills. Authorities said Fossett likely died on impact.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.
Authorities said Monday they have positively identified some of Steve Fossett's... more
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Since Johnnie Lee Savory was released from prison, he has been organizing with other unjustly convicted people, including many of the survivors of former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge's regime of torture.
For decades these survivors have cried out for justice, and finally, on October 21, 2008, their calls were heard when U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald arrested Burge for his crimes.
In this video, some of the survivors talk about what happened to them and their continuing fight for justice.
Since Johnnie Lee Savory was released from prison, he has been organizing with other... more
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Johnnie Lee Savory spent 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. In this clip, Johnnie talks about how he finds the strength to fight back.Johnnie Lee Savory spent 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. In this... more
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