European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 16, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes thursday april 16,1992 genetic fingerprinting valid if scrutinized doctor says by the Baltimore Sun genetic a a fingerprinting is a valid and powerful technology for solving crimes but the laboratories doing the work need to be closely scrutinized and regulated a scientist says. Or. Victor a. Mckusick a Johns Hopkins Hospital geneticist who chaired the committee that studied the question said tuesday that there is no need to halt the use of genetic evidence or to reopen old cases in which it was used to help identify and convict suspects. But Mckusick said standardization and accreditation Are needed for the laboratories and personnel doing the analyses known As Dan profiling. A the present methods Are Good but there is no reason they can to be better a Mckusick said. He and scientists who studied the Issue for the National research Council. His comments came in the Wake of a new York times Story tuesday that reported that the committee had concluded that Dan fingerprinting should not be allowed in criminal courts until labs tighten standards. Mckusick said he was a very upset by the article which he said a seriously misrepresents our  asked to respond to Mckusick a accusations Nicho Deli bacteria May kill 425 yearly Chicago apr poisoning caused by bacteria sometimes found in soft cheeses Delicatessen food and undercooked meat sickens 1,850 americans and kills 425 of them each year a Federal study estimates. Most victims Are pregnant women the elderly or people whose immune systems have been weakened by factors  As cancer treatment or aids. The bacterium listeria Monocyte genes has been known to cause clusters of Lister Osis disease among groups of people eating contaminated foods. But scientists have not known whether isolated cases also stemmed from bad food. Many of them do researchers at the centers for disease control concluded after tracking More than 18 million people in four states from november 1988 through 1990. A prevention efforts should include dietary counselling of High risk patients and continued monitoring of food production the researchers said in wednesdays journal of the american medical association. In addition they recommended that people should Cook meats thoroughly and avoid Cross contamination Between raw and cooked foods during preparation. The researchers also said people with an above average risk of getting Lister Osis might want to avoid soft cheeses and Deli foods. In the study the cd compared 165 Lister Osis sufferers with similar people who did not get the ailment. They found that people who got  were 2.6 times More Likely to have eaten mexican style or feta cheese and 1.6 times More Likely to have purchased food from a Delicatessen counter. The National food processors association an Industry group said listeria is found everywhere. A typically it is Only when the bacterium contaminates food at High Levels and the food is consumed by a person at risk that serious health consequences result Quot said Lester Crawford the associations top scientist. Las Wade science editor for the times said a a we re not commenting on the  the report does not recommend a moratorium on the use of Dan evidence in court. But until Laboratory accreditation is in place Mckusick said judges should require that laboratories demonstrate that they Are meeting a generally accepted standards in their work. Those standards were outlined a year ago by the technical working group on Dan analysis methods an organization of forensics experts from across the country meeting under the auspices of the Fri he said. Dan fingerprinting technology was developed in England in 1985. Genetic material extracted from tiny samples of blood semen or body tissue is chemically processed to reveal a distinctive pattern of lines like a supermarket bar code on a Ray film. These a a fingerprints Are highly individual and the chances of two unrelated people having the same genetic patterns Are described As one in Many millions. By comparing the genetic profile extracted from crime scene evidence with that taken from a suspect s blood Sample investigators will either find a match which adds to other evidence against a suspect or no match which May eliminate the person from  strides Tony a 3v-week-old african Black Rhinoceros takes his first stroll a under the watchful Eye of his Mother Onyx a in the outdoor pachyderm exhibit at the Denver zoo. Volunteer zoo worker Megan Phillips looks on approvingly. Link Between cancer electric Fields doubted by the los Angeles times the debate Over the risk of cancer resulting from exposure to electrical transmission lines and appliances escalated wednesday. In a new study a particle physicist at the University of California Berkeley has attempted to rebut studies showing a link Between exposure to  electromagnetic Fields or emf and an increased risk of leukaemia and brain tutors in children and certain other tutors in adults. The physicist David Jackson concluded in the prestigious proceedings of the National Academy of sciences that the incidence of the cancers in question have not changed despite a 2,500 percent increase in electricity use since 1940. But critics attacked his findings. A this is a fatuous piece of work a said cancer epidemiologist Richard Stevens of the Batelle Pacific Northwest laboratories. A a it a irritating because at first Blush it makes intuitive sense to say that if something is a cause of cancer cancer rates should go up when its use  Jackson argued that residential consumption per capita has increased by a Factor of 25 since 1940 and exposure to electric Fields should have increased proportionately. That is his first mistake critics said. A there is no evidence that use of electric Power is a Good indicator of exposure a said epidemiologist David Savitz of the University of North Carolina. In fact As population bases have shifted from cities to the suburbs experts say exposure has probably been reduced because people live farther from Power  to evaluate theory that vaccine led to aids from wire reports Philadelphia a panel of six scientists has been appointed to evaluate a theory that aids originated in a tainted Batch of polio vaccine prepared at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. Wistar director Giovanni Rovera said this week that he appointed the panel after the theory appeared in the March 19 Issue of rolling Stone. The article by free Lance journalist Tom Curtis speculated that the human immunodeficiency virus which causes aids May have been present in tissue from a Monkey kidney used by former Wistar director Hilary Koprowski to grow a polio  Oral vaccine was Given to an estimated 325,000 people in Rwanda Burundi and what is now Zaire from 1957 through 1960. The Wistar Institute is an Independent research facility at the University of pennsylvania.2 boys face rape charges Indianapolis a rape charges Are pending against two 7-year-old boys who allegedly attacked a first Grade classmate in a Public school restroom on March 26. The boys whose names were not made Public because of their age were arrested monday appeared in juvenile court and were released to their parents for formal Home detention during further court proceedings. No trial dates were set. Principal Verda Bowman said tuesday that All three children were undergoing  completion atop Mauna Kea Hawaii a the Mirror of the worlds largest Telescope which scientists say will provide new views of How stars galaxies and the universe itself evolves was completed tuesday. The last of 36 half ton hexagonal segments was lowered into place at the . Keck Observatory at the 13,600-foot Summit of the dormant Mauna Kea Volcano on Hawaii Island. Together the segments form a 33-foot Mirror surface. A twin of the $94 million Telescope will be built a few Hundred feet away. After Keck ii is finished in 1996 and the telescopes Are linked electronically astronomers can use them to see objects 13 billion to 14 billion Light years  accused in Tot s death los Angeles a a woman who conceived a child through artificial insemination and her lesbian Lover were charged tuesday with beating their 18-month-old daughter to death authorities said. Trivia Strother 22, and Lisa a a Kevin Smith 24, pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the beating death of trivia Smith District attorney spokesman Mike Botula said. Strother had artificial insemination to become pregnant Botula , 5, left behind Newport Tenn. A being the Only boy among eight Sisters should get a 5-year-old plenty of attention. But Isaac Muir went to the restroom and returned to see his mom driving away. A the said he just about caught the Van but it was too fast for him a said Deputy Blaine Hart sell of the Cocke county sheriffs department. Rest area employees called police who issued an Alert for the Van. Isaac was asleep in the Van when his Mother stopped at a rest area sunday on interstate 40 during a trip from their Home in Greenwood s.c., to Ohio. His Mother and eight Sisters went to the restroom. He woke up and followed. Pamela Muir did not realize her son was missing until the family stopped 70 Miles later at a restaurant. A i got a phone Call from this woman who was All Panicky a said Lake City police officer Bob Scearce. He sent Muir Back to the rest area and from there she was directed to the sheriffs department