FORT WORTH -- For Jayann Sepich, the UNT Health Science Center's work with DNA to help solve crimes and identify victims is personal.
After her 22-year-old daughter, Katie, was raped and killed in Las Cruces, N.M., in 2003, there were few clues to the identity of her killer.Sepich quickly began wondering what she could do. As she learned about the gaps in DNA collection, she founded DNA Saves, a nonprofit organization that pushed for legislation mandating that DNA samples be taken from anyone arrested on suspicion of a felony.With the help of Arthur Eisenberg, co-director of UNT's Center for Human Identification, she persuaded legislators in 26 states to pass laws requiring the collection of DNA samples. Texas already had a law, but it has not been fully implemented.In New Mexico, the legislation was called Katie's Law in honor of her daughter.So Thursday's event spotlighting the Health Science Center's new Life Technologies Center for Forensic Excellence, which is designed to train technicians from around the world to work with DNA databases, really hit home with Sepich."I think they're on the forefront here," Sepich said."They're breaking new ground every day. DNA research is moving so fast. What we thought was impossible five years ago is happening now."The Center for Forensic Excellence, where classes started in January, has students from Cyprus and China and one from the United States.The staff doesn't just train them and send them home but continues to provide technical support and answer questions."We had a question by e-mail today from someone in Brazil who was here earlier this year," Director Meredith Turnbough said."We're talking back and forth all the time."Many countries are starting to invest in the technology. Thirty-nine countries have active DNA databases. It is projected that by 2015, there will be 100 million DNA profiles worldwide, according to Forensic magazineEisenberg said the DNA work doesn't deal just with unsolved crimes but also with international issues such as human trafficking.UNT is working on a distance learning center and has teleconferences to answer technical questions from scientists worldwide as they try to set up their own DNA databases.DNA databases pay for themselves, Sepich said. The challenge is securing funds to get them started.Katie's case is an example. A DNA sample eventually led to the arrest of her killer.After Gabriel Avila was arrested in another case several years after her death, officers took a DNA sample from him and entered it into the database. The sample matched DNA found underneath Katie's fingernails. Avila was convicted in 2007."In my daughter's case, we know authorities spent a quarter of a million dollars on her investigation," Sepich said. "It was 31/2 years later that her killer was caught, swabbed and they got a match."Since the DNA sample law went into effect in New Mexico, it has helped clear 322 cases."It just makes sense to use all of this technology," Sepich said. "If we can just see clear of the financial hurdles, we could save all of this money and also save lives."Bill Hanna, 817-390-7698Twitter: @fwhanna