Amy Sygnatowicz

Biology 1090
News Analysis #1
“The End of Whodunnit”

When one person of a pair of identical twins commits a major crime, forensic
professionals wouldn’t be able to differentiate the DNA taken from both twins, so
many a time, the wrong person would be behind bars, serving unjust time. This is
especially true given cases of rape, where the system officials take semen samples and
compare it to anyone in their current databases. This meant that hundreds of criminal
cases were left open, their perpetrators sometimes unknown. That was until recently,
when scientists were able to gain a more organized picture in the early developmental
stages of embryos of identical twins.1 (Zimmer 2019) DNA sequencing is gaining
momentum in the forensic field, making it possible to find the mutations that make
one twin differ slightly from the other. In the research journal, four leading scientists
were able to identify differential germlines of monozygotic twins by taking blood and
semen samples.2 (Krawczak 2018) Their results showed that by organizing cellular
lineages in a single fertilization, a monozygotic embryo can acquire tiny differences
in DNA sequencing.

With this new testing available, hundreds of rape and sexual assault crimes can be
reopened to test for the proper perpetrator, thus being finally solved. Many families
can finally find the peace they’ve been hopelessly waiting on, and many more
criminals will finally face time for their heinous crimes.

The scientists involved in the study weren’t compensated for their test results, and
no governmental agencies had any hands at work in the study, either. Hypothetically,
if the study were funded by a foundation, the scientists could have fixed their
equations within the study to conform to the wanted results, thus creating a different
result, but thankfully, nothing like that occurred.

I felt that Zimmer did a magnificent job outlining the crime which spurred the
research, and was able to detail the scientific data into as simplistic terms as he could.
Throughout the article, you are able to see that Zimmer has at least a basic
understanding of how human biology and reproduction work, as well as how DNA is
deconstructed in order to make phenomenal steps forward in the science community.
He relates directly from the 1999 criminal case and also the study’s findings in order
to state his case and relay the information to the public. I left the article feeling a
sense of empowerment and astonishment about how scientists can further continue to
serve justice where it is needed. I also like to think several cases will be reopened
with the confidence that we’ll be able to surmise who truly committed the crime,
because we have the tools and the blueprint to show how it’s done. It’s a win all
around.

1
Zimmer, Carl. 2019. “One Twin Committed the Crime- but Which One? A New DNA Test Can Finger the Culprit”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/01/science/twins-dna-crime-paternity.html
2
Krawczak, Michael, et al. December 2018. “Distinguishing genetically between the germlines of male
monozygotic twins,” https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1007756#sec002