NSW: DNA robots speed up crime-fighting
03 Jun 2009 2:37 AM
Robots are taking over from humans to fast-track DNA profiling .. as police review cold cases.
The six robots .. which can each do the work of three people .. are expected to cut the waiting time for court cases and reduce the current backlog of testing.
They'll also reduce the risk of human error and contamination of samples.
Worth a total of 1.3 million dollars .. the robots have been installed in the Division of Analytical Laboratories in the western Sydney suburb Lidcombe.
New South Wales Police Minister TONY KELLY says the lab will be able to process up to 62 thousand samples a year instead of the 28 thousand they do now.
He says some of the robots will work to extract samples for analysis such as sperm .. bloodstains and saliva swabs .. while other robots will assist in preparing the extracted samples for analysis.
