Good Jamaican Science

Ok I think it’s time I actually blogged about some good news emanating from the local science circuit. And I want to focus on CARIGEN at UWI, headed by Prof Wayne McClaughlin.

This is a world-class first-rate DNA facility being run by world-class first-rate local scientists. They look at the practical application of DNA technologies for paternity tests, genealogy, diagnostics, identification, and, of course, forensic science. Here you will see how science is applied at its fullest, where biology (DNA, obviously), chemistry, and physics (medical equipment and engineering) for something that has real, obvious and, in some cases, immediate benefit to individuals and societies alike.

Paternity tests are important in resolving individual disputes, but CARIGEN’s services extending to DNA profiling also helps determine individuals’ genetic pre-disposition to certain types of diseases, allowing them to make the proper lifestyle choices allowing them to live healthier and fuller lives. And knowing your DNA profile is also healthy fun – see this Time Magazine article.

DNA is also the ultimate genealogy tool, allowing people to trace their ancestry back to Africa, Europe or China as the case may be, to specific villages and localities. For those interested in their own personal lineage and heritage, this is too good to pass up. It’s all the rage in the USA now, with several reality TV shows (like NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are, hosted by Lisa Kudrow) tracing the lineages of celebrities (and hopefully showing those right-wing anti-immigration extremists over there a thing or two…).

And, of course, forensic science application of DNA technologies. We’re riddled with crime problems left and right, and crippled with an investigative policing culture that operates reactively and instinctively instead of scientifically, where an investigation pretty much ends once the crime scene is cleared, and the rest is based off (hand-written) reports etc, without correlations to other variables and incidental factors. Crime technologies shouldn’t stand in isolation; we need to link the ballistics, fingerprinting and DNA information into a single system, that can also connect to mapping systems and warrant databases.

But I digress. CARIGEN’s role in exposing high tech to these criminal investigations also illustrates the purity of science, where the scientists have no agenda in making sure the right person is caught for the crime, but perhaps as importantly, the wrong person isn’t. So many cases in the USA and elsewhere show convicts exonerated because of new DNA evidence and technologies that didn’t exist 20 years ago there. These are in Jamaica now, and we should embrace this.

Great job!