New discovery prevents identical twin criminals from walking free

Scientists specialising in genomic research at the Eurofins laboratory in Ebersberg, Germany, say that they can tell identical twins apart from minute faults in their DNA.

Eurofins has developed the world`s first test to identify genetic differences between identical twins, something that could be invaluable in policing as current DNA samples which use a small amount of genomes cannot tell identical twins apart.

The scientists found several dozen differences in identical twin DNA, which means that they can now tell any twin from another.

As Dr Laura Walton-Williams of the Forensic and Crime Science Department at Staffordshire University explains, you can discriminate between individuals (excepting identical twins) without analysing the whole length of DNA.

Because Eurofins are studying each ‘letter’ of each twin’s whole sequence, they are able to detect these minute differences. This is done through a process called bioinformatics.

Dr Walton Williams said that although forensic scientists in the UK have the capabilities and expertise to be able to carry out this type of test, discussions as to whether this will be a method that will be adopted will need to be had by stakeholders in the criminal justice system.

“Although the concept of being able to differentiate between identical twins in crimes of a sexual nature by using DNA evidence is extremely exciting, there are some challenges that will need to be overcome before it is routinely used in investigations of this nature.”

“One issue is the cost of this type of analysis. This relates to both the cost of the reagents and equipment required to carry out this analysis, as well as the time required to analyse and compare two entire genomes. This may well limit its use in criminal investigations.”