Southall, Ashley. “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/nyregion/dna-phenotyping-new-york-police.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic+Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection&_r=0.
In Ashley Southall’s article, “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction,” she discusses how phenotyping is used in crime investigations in order to develop a visual of the victim. Southall discusses a case in which various body parts of a twenty to forty-five year old woman were found. She states that, “In phenotyping, scientists scan a person’s genes for variations known to influence traits like skin color, eye color, geographical ancestry and freckling. They then plug those markers into a set of algorithms to generate a profile.” In the case involving the remains of a twenty to forty-five year old woman, scientists were able to develop a visual drawing of what she may have looked like based on their examinations of her remains. Having the ability to do this they were able to move the case forward. However, Southall brought our attention to that fact that, “critics have raised concerns about the lack of peer-reviewed science behind the technology and the creeping expansion of how DNA is collected and used in criminal investigations, where it is susceptible to human bias, error and abuse.” Although there were such concerns raised, Chief Katsanakis, the commander of the Forensic Investigation Division states that, “the Police Department was ‘fully aware’ of the uncertainty surrounding phenotyping.” In having this advantage being able to reconstruct a visual of a victim, it helps in moving forward a case, new or reopened, as well as being able to bring justice to the victim’s family.
Ashley Southall’s article, “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction,” brings up a very important fact which is relevant to our society. Having new technology at our access, scientists are able to use this to their advantage to reconstruct a visual image of a person from their remains.
This article explained both sides, discussing both the advantages of developing a visual image of a victim as well as the concerns which were raised when discussing phenotyping utilizing newer technology. I also thought that it helped to better understand the topic as she discussed various cases as well as input from people such as the Commander of the Forensic Investigation Division. Although I thought that Southall’s article was well written, I wished that she would have discussed more about what goes into developing the visual image, as well as what goes into examining the remains in order to obtain a visual.
9 comments:
Scott McGrath
Current Event 6
10/29/17
Southall, Ashley. “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/nyregion/dna-phenotyping-new-york-police.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic+Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection&_r=0.
Michelle did a very good job reviewing this article about using DNA to create composite sketches. This was a very interesting article that discusses how phenotyping is being used to create visual images of victims. The article talks about how scientists used various body parts from a 40-45 year old woman and used certain aspects of her DNA to determine things such as her skin color, eye color, and even if she had freckles or not. This is huge for the forensic science field because now more things than ever can be determined from DNA. Michelle does a very good job explaining the case breakthrough as a whole, citing certain cases and going into detail about phenotyping. Another thing she did well was use quotations from scientists. This added credibility to what she was saying. One last thing she did very well was providing a well backed opinion in the last paragraph. She really knew what she was talking about and it makes the review much more interesting.
Despite all these positives, there are some negatives. She could have paced her review a bit better, even with all her details they seems sporadic. Another thing she could do better is use a little less quotations from the article. I think it is great she implemented them at all, but it seems to be most of the review.
One thing that blew my mind was the fact that scientists can get so much information from DNA. Being able to tell most features from such a small part of a body is hard to believe, personally. Overall I really enjoyed reading this review, and Michelle did a very good job getting the main point out and had a very good knowledge of the article.
Alexander Rizzo
Oct. 30th, 2017
Mr. Ippolito
Current Event 6
Southall, Ashley. “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/nyregion/dna-phenotyping-new-york-police.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic+Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection&_r=0.
In Michelle's review, she did a great job doing the following three things. She did a great job citing her work properly with MLA format, she did a good job formating her piece, and she did a great job giving her introduction. In her introduction especially, she did a great job making the piece interesting, informative, and insightful. Another aspect of the review that was well written was Michell’s transition from the summary of the article to why the article is important. Without saying why the article is important to forensic science, the review means nothing in the context of the class. Finally, Michelle did a good job putting his own opinion about the article in the end of his review; making sure his opinion did not affect how he wrote the beginning of the article.
One suggestion on how this review could have been better is if Michelle had included less lengthy quotes from the article in order to provide evidence of his thoughts. Instead she should have just cited where in the article she was talking about for the reader to go back to. Also, Michelle's current event could be improved if he had used a less formal tone and had instead used a more scientific analysis of the essay. The point of current events is not to include the author's opinion until the end of the current event.
Overall, I think this was a good article, and I think Michelle did a good job. I think she did the job thoroughly and completely.
Liam Grealy
Forensics D-Even
October 30, 2017
Current event #6
Southall, Ashley. “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/nyregion/dna-phenotyping-new-york-police.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic+Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection&_r=0.
I like how good of a job Michelle did in summarizing the article. Sometimes it's difficult to summarize and one ends up giving too much detail on one part then completely ignores another. She did a great job in including all parts and giving just enough detail to help the reader understand the article but not feel like I was reading the article twice. She also did a great job picking a quote that really furthered her summary and gave the reader enough information to truly understand what she was talking about. Lastly she did a great job in describing how there were two sides to the story. Although some experts believe that DNA recreation can help to figure out what a person looks like there are still some who are speculative. I am definitely speculative as through the past weeks of current events I learned that DNA isn't always right
I wish she used more quotes in her summary, although she had two there are never too many quotes as the really help to develope your points as it uses direct words from the article. I also wish that she included some more information on how the DNA helped to recreate a rough image of what the person will most likely look like.
I learned that there is no Limit to what DNA can be used for. Every week I feel like there are new advances which lead scientist to find another thing DNA can be used for.
Damian Kaminski
Oct. 30th, 2017
Mr. Ippolito
Current Event 6
Southall, Ashley. “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/nyregion/dna-phenotyping-new-york-police.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic+Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection&_r=0.
Throughout Michelle's review, she was able to do a great job with a couple of things, She did a great job giving her introduction and she did a great job citing her work properly with MLA format, she did a good job formatting her piece. she did a great job making the review really interesting, informative, and insightful. I honestly felt like I learned some stuff that I most certainly did not know before. She did a great job in describing how there were two sides to the story. Another aspect of the review that was well written was Michell’s transition from the summary of the article to why the article is important. She did this without saying why the article is important to forensic science, the review means nothing in the context of the class. I enjoyed the fact that she stated her opinion and was straight to the point with her review.
I do wish that Michelle used more quotes in her summary, although she had two quotes, I feel as though there was space for more quotes that could've made her point stronger and create the image she was trying to present. I also wished that she could've talked more about how the DNA and how it can be used to determine how someone looks and how that could be used for forensic lab workers and the authorities.
What I learn that we as humans have no idea what our DNA has in store for us and the limitless possibilities that it could be used for.
Zixi Chen
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics
31 October 2017
Current Event 2
Southall, Ashley. “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/nyregion/dna-phenotyping-new-york-police.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic+Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection&_r=0.
In Michelle Coppola’s review of the article “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction” written by Ashley Southall, she provided a great summary of the content and theme of the article. First of all, Michelle used a lot of direct quotations from the original article and cited the article correctly using the MLA format. These actions and details established her credibility as an author of the review. Secondly, Michelle did a great job explaining the beliefs of the people who viewed the DNA sketching differently. Some people believed that this was a great advancement in science, but some opposed it due to its uncertainty and confusion. By bringing both sides of the conversation into her review, Michelle showed her readers the big picture. Lastly, Michelle did a great job in her transitions so her readers would not feel like they are reading paragraphs that were not connected to each other. She made the review more interesting by doing that.
Even though there are many good aspects to her review, there are some areas of possible improvements as well. For example, the article may be more interesting to read if she used less lengthy quotes and instead use her own words more in terms of explaining the different opinions towards DNA sketching. Furthermore, she could have gave the readers a more detailed explanation about the actual DNA sketching of people’s facial features and how this development may be used in forensic labs.
This article surprised me by further explaining how many things DNA can be used for. Other than being one of the best profiling tools, DNA may also be able to sketch a photo of some people and make it easier for investigators to solve a crime in the future.
Mairead Cain
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics
5 November 2017
Southall, Ashley. “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2017,
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/nyregion/dna-phenotyping-new-york-police.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%20Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection
Michelle did a very nice job with her current event review on the article “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction,” by Ashley Southall. I decided to review her report as the title of the original current event was rather intriguing. It made me think how, exactly, scientists could accomplish this feat. There are many good techniques she uses throughout the report. One example is how she explains what, exactly, DNA based phenotyping it. This gives readers a crucial insight on the background information surrounding the current event. Another aspect of Michelle’s writing that was done rather well was when she explained how there are common inaccuracies detected in the DNA phenotyping process. She explains this because it is important to note that many do not support DNA phenotyping. Lastly, I appreciated how Martha discussed the flaws of the article and how it often was not descriptive enough. This is important because it displays the fact that the author of the original report could have been more descriptive.
Overall, Michelle’s report was extremely interesting and informative, however there are some details that she could tweak and add to make the current event report even that much better.
I recommend that she explains how, exactly, the process works. This would have given readers an insight on the information in discussion. Also, she could have discussed her own opinion on how this advanced technology will affect the future of Forensic science impacting court cases. This would have been interesting as this new scientific advancement will most likely be rather controversial in the years to come.
Michelle’s report was very informative and I learned extensively about how DNA phenotyping is becoming incredibly more advanced and accurate. Before reading the report, I had little knowledge about how DNA phenotyping could affect the way Forensic science affects the courtroom. Countless people across the world could be affected by the new advancement in technology, and after reading Michelle’s report, I see now that it is important that the world is further educated on the subject at hand.
Justin McCarthy
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics 12H
Current Event 7
Commenting on Michelle Coppola's Review
Due November 7th 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/nyregion/dna-phenotyping-new-york-police.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic+Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection&_r=1
Southall, Ashley. “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2017.
Upon reading Michelle Coppola’s account and review regarding Ashley Southall’s “Using DNA To Sketch What Victims Look Like” the overall perceivement that I took out was that I was not only fascinate with the article but I was impressed by the work that was put in by Michelle. However while I thought she did a lot of things very well, there are three things that she did which I really thought were her strengths when writing her review. The first thing that I really liked was that Michelle did a very good job hooking the reader into reading her article as she emphasizes the dilemma regarding the issue on DNA being used for sketching individuals. “In phenotyping, scientists scan a person’s genes for variations known to influence traits like skin color, eye color, geographical ancestry and freckling. They then plug those markers into a set of algorithms to generate a profile” (Southall). By citing Southall’s statement, I believe Michelle does a great job at setting up her main idea regarding the effectiveness and the proof that by introducing new sets of technology DNA will be able to identify victims in the not too distant future. A second thing that I really enjoyed from reading Michelle’s article is that she did a very good job at keeping first person perspective out of the review when regarding if DNA testing is the key of the future. I believe this is important for Forensics, but also for life in general because as a writer, because the best way to succeed is keeping an opened mind so you could always be able to learn. A third factor which I thought Michelle did a very good job at was that she did a very good job at making her grammar and her word structure with little to none errors. I believe this is important because without good grammar and good word structure, the reader can get distractracted and his or her ability to learn will be altered.
While Michelle did a very good job at writing her article, there was some minor issues that I believe could have been improved slightly. The first factor which I think Michelle could do better is that while she does use quotes and while they were very good, I believe she could have also explored the background better such as telling the reader how long DNA Sketch Testing has been around. “DNA testing has been around for decades, popularized on television and in the criminal justice system for its usefulness in determining paternity and ancestry. DNA collected from crime scenes is routinely used to identify suspects and to convict or exonerate the accused, usually by comparing it to a suspect’s DNA or samples in a criminal database” (Ashley). By using this citation, not only do I beleive that Michelle could have better hooked her reader in, but also can educate her reader and inspire them to be up to date with forensics news. A second factor which I also believe Michelle could have done a better job is that she could have used a couple more quotes reflecting on the evolution of solving organized crime by using DNA testing. I believe by using more quotes, Michelle is also able to connect to the reader on a personal standpoint to make them realize that because we are in an age with so much technology, it is time that we use it for good purposes.
From reading this article, I personally found Michelle’s work to be a very compelling argument. The biggest reasons why I chose this article was because one it came from the most trustworthy news website the New York Times. The second reason why I chose to do this article was because I believe that since humans are in the technology revolution, scientist are beginning to realize that because technology is getting so much improved, its about time that we used it to help people and it can also be used to establish order over criminals. Overall this current event connected to personally because I believe that for Forensics to become a better unit to solve crimes, the only way that this can happen is by having individuals embracing our technology and taking a leap of faith forward because it is time that we start conducting technology in forensics to solve crimes that occur on a regular basis.
Isabella Dibbini
Mr. Ippolito
Current Event Comment
5 November 2017
Southall, Ashley. “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/nyregion/dna-phenotyping-new-york-police.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic+Science&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&pgtype=collection&_r=0.
Michelle wrote an excellent review on the article: “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction,” by Ashley Southall. Her review was very well written, and she developed an accurate summary of her article. Lastly, she does a good job of supporting her ideas with quotes from the article. She quotes Southall when discussing a particular case, she states that, “In phenotyping, scientists scan a person’s genes for variations known to influence traits like skin color, eye color, geographical ancestry and freckling. They then plug those markers into a set of algorithms to generate a profile.”
Overall, this review is extremely well written, however, there are a few small things that would make it even better. For instance, Michelle could incorporate more detail into her review to make her argument more compelling. Also, it would be interesting if she talked about what effect this could have on the future.
After reading Michelle’s review of the article “Using DNA to Sketch What Victims Look Like; Some Call It Science Fiction,” by Ashley Southall, I was able to expand my knowledge on forensics. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this review believe that Michelle did a great job.
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