but during an autopsy the medical examiner did recover dna from jamie's body, dna which likely came from her rapist and killer. >> did you put the dna into a database? >> we put it in codus. >> reporter: any hits? >> none. >> no eyewitnesses, no fingerprints, no dna matches. the investigation wasn't off to a good start. >> and that's when we started contacting people at her place of employment, friends, roommates. >> reporter: did she have any enemies? >> everybody seemed to love her. >> detective elliott began to retrace jamie's steps on the night of the murder. jamie was taking time off from her studies at texas a&m and was working at a pizza parlor. her shift had ended around midnight. >> we contacted everybody on-- that she delivered pizzas to, and nothing out of the ordinary. >> after work, she'd headed over to a friend's house. >> he said they were there watching movies and she left his house around 4:30 in the morning. >> reporter: what time did you think that she was killed. >> we got the call, i think, at 7:15 a.m., so between 4:30 a.m. and 7:00. >> the male friend, a college st

will not give up dna. too much tv. >> reporter: but the detective had snagged a sample from a beer mug and when the dna finally came back, he was not a match. reporter: you felt confident that you could rule him out, based on -- >> yes. yes. >> reporter: the dna not matching? >> yes. >> reporter: but even before the dna test cleared jamie's friend, the detective was already looking for other suspects. and his attention quickly landed on someone very close to the her boyfriend. >> the questions that they asked, focused on where was i the night before, what had i been doing. >> reporter: looking at you as a possible suspect? that that was what they were for information. >> reporter: chuck told the detective that before jamie was killed he hadn't seen her for two days. on the night of murder, he said he was at home. >> i was playing computer games like a good nerd. >> reporter: did you have anyone there to corroborate your alibi? >> i think my roommates were there but they were both asleep. i had nobody right

we take the dna from a living organism, and we combine it with the dna from another organism, thereby creating an entirely new living substance. now, this particular recombinant form has just been developed, and we can't guarantee that it might not be virulent or even pestilent! just have a seat. hello, millicent. you've got the wrong one. look, mrs. kamen, i'm sure if you'll just give us a chance -- he's fooled you, too. come home. you stay away from me! you'll feel better. no, stay away! please, millicent. millicent! [ knock on door ] mitzi. uh, gentlemen, sergeant wojciehowicz indicates there might be some problem with dna? yes. you see, captain, the dna was spliced from a polyomavirus into a strain of escherichia coli. are you saying there's a potential health hazard in this...stuff? it's possible. no. [ sighs ] u're wearing one. um, captain, i think that both dr. rubin and myself are saying the same thing, just in different ways. simply that there is a small... very small chance of contamination... or epidemic. wojo, you'd better get on the phone to the department of health. mill

this map has been generated by dna taken from another source, rich in elephant dna. >> i am holding a tray of elephant poop. not exactly something you'd associate as a tool for fighting international crime, but these samples provide critical pieces of data for creating a genetic map of elephants across africa. >> yep, collecting dung samples may not be glamorous work but it's a task wasser and his team take seriously. >> we make the map from the dung, we take genetic markers out of the dung samples. so, you see here this map of africa? so there's about 1400 total samples here and each sample is from a separate family group. >> wasser was able to determine the origin of the 6 and a half tons of ivory seized in singapore and shipped out of malawi. it all came from a neighboring country, zambia. wasser's team had made a discovery that would revolutionize law enforcement's approach to poaching >> basically this study debunked some of the assumptions that you and interpol had about how these activities were working? what were those assumptions? >> so there were assumptions that law enforce

but when the dna results caca back -- >> the dna was not a match. >> reporter: so were you able to rule out chuck cruz, then, once you got that dna checked? >> i didn't rule him out completely, no. >> reporter: that was enough for you with -- with the -- the friend, who she was with the night before. you ruled him out, after you got the dna, correct? >> i didid the other guy y sn't her boyfriend. he hadn't flunked polygraphs. he wasn't in a bad relationship with her. chuck was. >> reporter: but they didn't arrest chuck. months went by and the detective kept investigating him. searched his car. all the while chuck k s saying they were looking at the wrong guy. there's a lot of peopop that won't confess to a murder for obviououreasons. and at that point, he was a person of -- strong person of interest, but i still didn't know i ihe w w my killer, so we continued to search. >> reporter: the investigation dragged on, life for the students on campus began to go back to normal. parties every weekend. but when police were called to the scene of one house party, it wasn't because of noise or un

laura ingle has that story. >> reporter: dna sequencing research projects are underway the country. -- health system in pennsylvania is asking patients to volunteer. president obama has also proposed an initiatives to fund the facilities committed to dna research and share the results with scientists worldwide. here is why. >> the goal of our large scale research project is to learn which differences in dna sequence influence your health and risk of particular diseases. >> reporter: doctor ledbetter says his research so far has determined that one in every 50 people has a genetic change that puts them at an increased risk of certain cancers or at a heightened risk for heart disease. once an at risk patient is tested and made aware of potential health implications, they give that information to their doctor for prevention and treatment options. electronically in a bio bank and can be passed along to descendents and other relatives. >> having your parents or grandparents health information and dna, we think in the future will be extremely valuable to informing your doctors about your in

now you got gary's dna and you got the paint. it's a little bit difficult, i think, to sell to any reasonable person, the idea has this is all a big coincidence. he would lead detectives to the places where he had tossed the bodies of young women missing for decades that had never been recovered 37. he would tell families and investigators how and why he had killed again and again and how he had eluded police for years. and in exchange, he would escape the death penalty. it was a deal no one agreed to at first. king county prosecutor norm maleng was completely opposed. >> this office does not plea bargain with the death penalty. >> sheriff reichert looked at it if ridgway were to be convicted of seven murders and get the death penalty, ridgway would never have to tell what happened to all the other missing women. >> when we arrested him, we wanted answers. the investigators have always wanted to know why. the families have always wanted to know why. >> at first reichert worried about a plea bargain. he was concerned ridgway would

> d you put the dna into a tabase >> we puit in codis. >>ny hit >>one. >> neyitness, no fingerprints, na matches. the investigatiowasn't off to a good start. that's when we stard contacting people at her pce of eloyment,riends, ommate >> didhe havany enems? >> everybody smed to le her. >> detective elliott began to retrace jamie's steps on the night of the murder. jamiwas taking te offrom s tas&m and was rking at a pizza parlor. her shift had ended around livered pizzas to and nothing out of the ordinary. >> after work, she'd headeover to a frienouse. >> he saidhey were wching movi and she lt his house ar:30 in the morning. hatimeo you thk at she was lled? >> we t the callthink, at 7:15.m., so betwee4:30 a.m. d 00. >> the male friend, a college student, was the last known person to see jamie ive. the detective paid him a visit. >> he was set,iously. they were friends and had been for sometime >> t friens grief seemed genuine, genuine, but something was peculiar. when investigators asked for a dna sample -- >> he sa no. >> no? >> and of co

. >>> dogs forced into dna tests. to your pets? es teetvaab thpldsp 5faerth cle t 0 g lo a dnldspds usv d onfoju 9. aon oinwi n nu ctrt. >>> eye on the storm, heavy snow and slick conditions on the streets. on top of all that, we're in for another wild weather changed tomorrow. good evening. i'm kristine johnson. >> i'm maurice dubois. we've got team coverage tonight, valerie castro out on the roads. we begin with lonnie quinn in the mobile other lab, live at columbus circle tonight. loni? >> reporter: it's not a very pleasant night out here. we start off with snow, turned to rain, check out the roadways over here, this is what we're dealing with. here we go. that was a bad move on my part. it's all slush. the worry about this freezing, not going to happen as much in new york city. mobile weather lab parked right here, 38.5 degrees. if you can pan up to the top, you can see i've got my instrumentation getting me the second by second data. picture, hunterdon county to fairfield county, picking up ice right now, that is my concern. h

his dna eventually lifting it they say it matched leading to an arrest in 2010. franklin has pled not guilty and his lawyer is expected to challenge the reliability of the dna evidence. the sister of victim mary lowe is hoping for justice. >> i want her to see her killer and recognize what he did to her for no reason. >> reporter: police believe there could be other victims because these photos were found in franklin's home this. trial is expected to last up to four months. steve patterson, nbc news, los angeles. >>> if you're one of the estimated 40 million americans with student loan debt, listen up. a houston man says he was arrested by a team of u.s. marshals without notice for had a nearly 30-year-old student loan. nbc's janet shamlian looks into the story. >> reporter: like millions of americans, paul aker has debt from college loans. last week u.s. marshals showed up at his houston-area home to help collect it. >> i went to my garage, opened the garage door and walked out with my hands up. >> reporter: aker claimed he was non-payment of a $1,500 loan from

dna analysis can save lives. mike that became clear during : the 2014 ebola outbreak in sierra leone. scientists and researches needed quick reliable dna analysis. conventional equipment broke down in the heat and unreliable power grid. minipcr worked and cost thousands less. >> you can do everything from copying dna to analyzing to interpreting the results, under $1000. mike at that price it is quickly : coming into schools. a dream of the inventors. >> it was a real frustrating for me going through high school not , being able to explore my passion and we don' t want that , to happen to any other kids. mike it works by heating a : sample and then cooling it. this cycling produces millions of copies and when placed under a patented bluegel light you can see the dna strands. these are the building blocks of all cells and unique to each individual. >> you can extract enough dna to match to a person. : and a map on the wall shows where the minipcr has been shipped to. soon space. nasa is scheduled to send a kit sta

they took her dna while she was in her car. they can do that because it's quite a simple process which police demonstrated to us. >> we'll have the person remove the swab themselves. we'll then explain they have to place the side and rub it for about 10 seconds, spreading it around to get cells on each side. then we ask them to place it underneath their tongue for about 10 seconds. then i'll take the dna sample on this here. wearing gloves, i'll swab it. >> reporter: it's put in to a national database. police in new york say for every 100 dna samples they take, they solve one major crime. >> if occurring in the area, we'll then go out and say who has open warrants? who is on probation, on parole. most have their officers speak to them. the other thing we do is see who has open dna in the neighborhood. >> reporter: it's not a glamorous job, but certainly it's an important one. in nassau county, kristin thorne, >>> the search for a deadly hit and run driver. the victim, a patient who jumped out of a moving ambulance. eyewitness n

>> i did. >> but what bothered police was his lack of cooperation. >> he wouldn't give dna. he wouldn't take a polygraph. >> add to that the suspicious pawn shop transaction, and the story about stopping by the murders. >> she had talked about making a couple of phone calls to mark and she couldn't get ahold of him, didn't know where she was or what he was doing. >> but police still needed physical evidence. a dna sample to match to the lay latex glove found at the scene. >> we had undercover officers that were constantly doing surveillance for weeks and weeks and weeks to try to somehow obtain a dna sample from him. >> but nabbing a sample approved to be more difficult than expected. in all those weeks, officers continued to come up empty. >> they watched him eat his lunch. they watched him get a to-go cup. they were all excited because they thought they would be able to get the straw he used only to see him leave with the straw. >> so he knew that you guys had eyes on him? >> it's difficult to know what >> then three months after the murders, an undercover officer followed

they didn't have his dna until 2013.victed in a rape case in california and result of that had to submit dna and they made a mass to the massachusetts. anyone convicted of a crime give a dna sample and that is allowing us to make cold are forensic evidence to see if a match comes up and that came up here. >> he is a furniture mover. >> it will be critical to find out where it was found. near the furniture that he delivered it would make sense. he could have knicked himself or found in the scene of the crime. it would be difficult to find. was it in ceiling or kitchen or bed room. that is critical. >>> another case on the other side of the country unrelated with dna evidence involved. the trial of an accused serial killer. lonnie franklin junior pled not guilty to being the so- called grim sleeper. prosecutors said he killed nine women. and the grim sleeper nickname came in because of a 14 year gap between some of the deaths. and again, they have because they developed dna evidence now and found a clever way to get some f

all cancers begin with damaged dna. the dna becomes damaged through time. where environmental factors like cigarette smoke and as a result it mutates. with cancer, the mutated dna and rna which work together to make protein are malfunctioning. they are failing to control the growth of unhealthy cells creating a tumor. they're failing in their role as the body's repair engine and allowing cells to become cancerous. to treat someone like wortman, scientists want to know whether the protein is malfunctioning because the dna is providing bad genetic programming or if the rna's role in creating the protein is not working. sequencing his healthy genes was a way of pinpointing where the breakdown had occurred. to do this, the washington university was able to do this through sequencing machines. they can be as small as a desktop computer or as big as a jumbo xerox copy machines from the 1980s that takes up half the mailroom. so they put all of them to work and they ran day and day out. they zeroed in on the invisible contours of one man's genetic makeup. after sev

there was a fingerprint on the couch table and that dna would certainly be one. >> if dna shows thatfact an intruder that night, how can darlie ever be repaid for all of the years of her life that have been spent in a nine by six cell on death row, and how can she ever be repaid for the years she's lost with her sole surviving son. >> darlie's son drake is now 19 years old. he's never before given an interview. >> i usually won't talk about it. a lot of people kind of knew that yeah, drake's here. his mom's on death row. it's just part of my life. something i've had to live with for 19 years. >> he's been coming up here since he was, you know, pretty little. he was a little baby. so this is all he really remembers. >> drake lives with his father darin in lubbock, texas, darlie and darin were divorced in 2011. >> darin has done a good job of raising drake. he didn't get the hugs that a mom gives. >> i don't have contact, so i've never gotten to hold him or hug him since i've been in this place. >> there's just a glass in between us. i mean, can't do anything about it. >> in the summer

and you're tellin' us that you're not sure you're gonna give us a dna sample. evidence of mark's guilt so police let him go. but the investigation suddenly shifted away from the workers at the tyrrell home and toward mark porter. some detectives hit the pavement to check out his alibi while others continued mining other avenues for leads. one cop thought to check a local database of pawn shops to see if any of the missing items from the tyrrell house had been recently sold. that search led them here to r&k coins. >> tell us how your business ended up bein' very important in a murder investigation in springfield. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: it was just two days after jan and gary were killed when kelly eddington was working behind his desk and a guy with a tub of coins walked in. >> what were you seein' in him? was he okay? was he normal-- demeanor-- >> he just looked like any average guy to me. i didn't, nothin' actually stood out about him at all. >> he had piles of dimes, quarters, 50 cent pieces. when you stack of money, ho wh-- what was it worth? >> he had $1

they would argue there was dna inside his best friend's house.r visitor to the house, he would get with gary, they would put on their gloves and handle the old coins and objects and that's why the glove was there. jurors, it's benign. is that how it works in the real world of court room drama? >> potentially, yes. >> what about the suspicious coin sale? there was no way to know they had come from gary's house. and as to mark porter being a co compulsive gambler? did he owe money to people? >> there was never any evidence we found that led to that. >> so the case, a potential death penalty one, was not airtight. when mark hired new attorneys who asked to talk about a plea deal, the prosecution was willing to listen. w to try to get the death penalty, can we achieve what we need to achieve without the risk of going to trial? >> he could walk. >> there's a chance of a hung jury and you have to do it all again. or they could come back on a lesser crime. >> both sides agreed. mark porter pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and he was sentenced to p

. >> no that's the dna, the helix. we mentioned umbrellas. it's a heavy wet snow so an umbrella actually does help so it's starting to stick and cause more problems. the national weather service has posted a winter weather advisory for almost everybody. a warning for significant totals east of the city. bright white banding now and holding together but it lasts longer for long island. that's why it's a warning for you and with that colder air filtering in you are seeing more of a change over for the south shore. that's where we'll see the bigger totals. four to six flirting with the city. parts of the city two to four just north and west but do exercise caution. i mean unfortunately for morning commuters whether it's in your dna or not the worst part of the storm is like right now during the busy commute period. >> really tough time for this. >> you might want to call off work for today. >> look at you. >> super bowl celebrations early.

the dna on the cigarette belongs to red army sergeant joe raymond.

some dna was found in the vehicle. the charles was in after the charles was with two other people in the suv for detectives found pieces of a firearm that they think was used in the crime. a tactile-i for one detective said the dna is strong. but the defense attorney good men challenged his testimony. >> you are implying i am line to the judge. are you serious? country for cell phone records tied charles to the scene. the witnesses saw charles knew the scene. they tried to determine a trial should get bond. defense said there was no witness to the murder in the murder weapon was not found on charles. now charles is charged with first-degree murder and attempted robbery with a deadly weapon. this hearing will continue tomorrow the defense plans to call an expert on dna evidence. we are live at the metro justice building. >>> a big bust for u.s. customs and border protection officers at miami international airport. officers arrested a passenger attempting to smuggle 8 pounds of heroin with a street value of $210,000. ind