11-Feb-2024

Cybergenetics speaks at Young Women in Bio event

Cybergenetics promotes women and girls in STEM. The company participated in a recent Young Women in Bio (YWIB) Pittsburgh and Philly Metro virtual panel discussion. Speakers included a forensic scientist, DNA innovator, district attorney, homicide detective, and law professor. They discussed the role of DNA in solving criminal cases. Cybergenetics’ President, Dr. Ria David, highlighted the significance of DNA evidence in forensic science and its application to criminal investigation.

Dr. David spoke about how wrongfully convicted “Darryl Pinkins was in jail for 24 years,” but Cybergenetics “showed that his DNA wasn't” in the crime scene evidence, clearing his name. She noted that “We've been involved in cases that have helped convict people. We've been in cases that have helped exonerate people and acquitted people. We've been involved in mass disasters.”

Cybergenetics pioneered powerful computational forensics at a time when inaccurate or missing answers were the norm. “We've been in forensic science since 2000,” said Dr. David. “We've worked on more than a thousand cases, and we've had a fairly large impact on how DNA is interpreted.”