DNA software claims $500k
A crime-solving software that untangles DNA has taken out the prime minister’s top science award.
Institute of Environmental Science Research (ESR) and its STRmix software, which can decipher the DNA of multiple people in a single sample, has earned the Government-agency a $500,000 prize.
Launched by New Zealand scientists and Australian counterparts in 2012, the technology has helped solve crimes in the United States, United Kingdom, Middle East and Asia in more than 100,000 cases.
ESR senior scientist Dr Jo-Anne Bright said the 16 scientists behind the software were honoured. ‘‘We knew what we were doing overseas, not just in New Zealand, was big but just to get the recognition is amazing. We’re really over the moon.’’
Winners of the Prime Minister’s Science Prizes were announced at a function at Parliament yesterday, with the institute’s STRmix team taking the premier award for science that had a transformational impact.
STRmix is widely described as groundbreaking, as it allowed forensic scientists to decode mixed DNA samples that would previously be discarded as unusable.
‘‘This is a really big problem with forensic evidence. Many of the DNA profiles we get from crime scenes are what we call mixed, that is, DNA from more than one individual,’’ Bright said.
The software identifies a person’s DNA, the lattice of genetic material unique to each individual, through measuring the length of repeating molecules, or ‘‘short tandem repeats’’ (STRs), contained within it. In measuring STRs, scientists can differentiate between up to five people in a single, mixed sample and have improved DNA profiling success by 30 to 50 per cent.
‘‘We knew what we were doing overseas, not just in New Zealand, was big but just to get the recognition is amazing.’’ Dr Jo-Anne Bright, above
During the first two years STRmix was used in New Zealand, it matched samples from 110 cases with an existing DNA database and linked 93 suspects to crimes.
‘‘Before, we were able to use blood evidence, semen evidence, and in some cases we could interpret profiles from trace, or touch, DNA ... on tools, weapons, and car doors.
‘‘But after the introduction of STRmix, we started to be about to interpret many more different types of samples, and many more mixtures,’’ Bright said.
ESR would invest the prize money into projects that hoped to bolster STRmix with technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
For Carol Brieseman igniting students’ curiosity is key to their life of learning.
‘‘It’s so important for them to be able to make scientifically informed decisions at this age, and right through life,’’ the Tawa primary school teacher said.
Brieseman, of Hampton Hill School, has won a Prime Minister’s science award for her ability to engage students with science.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern presented the science teacher prize of $100,000 to Hampton Hill School and $50,000 to Brieseman.
‘‘If a child doesn’t understand something, it is not their fault and I just need to find a different way of explaining the concept,’’ Brieseman said.
‘‘The key to enthusing them is smart planning, picking up on activities or events that they are interested in and knowing the curriculum really well.’’
Brieseman has 30 years’ teaching experience. Her interest in science was further enhanced when she won a Primary Science Teacher Fellowship to study with crown research institute Niwa for six months, which included time on a research ship in the Southern Ocean.
Hampton Hill School principal Kelly Barker said Brieseman was a real taonga. ‘‘Carol has completely changed the way we think about our curriculum and has contributed to the change in the way we teach and learn.’’