User:Gbm05/Lifecodes(co)

Lifecodes (Company)

Lifecodes, formerly known as ACTAGEN (acronym for advanced clinical testing and genetics), was a company founded in 1982 that throughout a 10-year period dominated the DNA fingerprinting scene. The company worked closely with prosecutors in order to provide DNA evidence for trials. Through the case of People v. Castro, it was revealed that Lifecodes did not fulfill their own stated standards and had sloppy recordkeeping. Their lack of intervention in said standards, led the National Academy of Sciences to establish a panel which would standardize DNA fingerprinting for judicial affairs.

Background

Founded in 1982 by three medical researchers, including Jeffrey Glassberg, with the help of National Distillers and Chemicals Corporation (owned half), Actagen began to research DNA fingerprinting and managed to patent their own procedure. The company was located at 99 Park avenue in New York. After Actagen’s successful patenting of their technique, National Distillers and Chemicals Corporation changed their names to Quantum Chemical Corporation in 1986 and bought the rest of Actagen. After the purchase, Actagen was renamed to Lifecodes. Founder Jeffrey Glassberg would work with the company until 1988. At some point later, Lifecodes was acquired by Immucor, to which it still belongs to in 2020.

People v. Castro

In 1996 Lifecodes came under scrutiny after its role in the People v. Castro case was found to be sloppy and negligent. Lifecodes was asked to test the blood found in a watch. Upon further investigation, it was found that Lifecodes not only mishandled the blood but also utilized contaminated equipment. Their standards for matching bloods were different to their standards at proving the match. This led to a change in terms of standardization of DNA fingerprinting. The National Academy of Sciences had to establish an authority that would oversee all processes regarding the matching of DNA in order to set concrete standards across all cases.