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Growth Strategy in Forensics
We provide a potential suspect's genetic heritage with DNAWitness(TM) 2.5. We are investigating avenues to encourage federal, state and local governments, crime laboratories and law enforcement agencies to use DNAWitness(TM) to help solve cold cases, current serial killer cases and other violent crimes. We believe DNAWitness(TM) could help revolutionize investigative procedures. By using DNAWitness(TM) on a regular basis, witness information can be corroborated, and where no witness is present, DNAWitness(TM) can provide a "fuzzy sketch" of the donor, possibly reducing the cost of examining a large donor pool and shortening the investigation.
During 2004 we added new sales agents that included Orchid Biosciences and Reliagene, Inc. and we are seeking to expand our list to other forensic testing laboratories across the world. Nevertheless, to date no appreciable sales have been derived from our developing base of sales representatives.
We anticipate an increase in marketing and sales costs throughout 2005 as we implement our marketing and sales plan to increase product awareness. We expect to incur costs for additional sales personnel, the expenses associated with trade shows and promotions, and our planned seminars and training programs.
Our future plans also include seeking or acquiring American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors or "ASCLD" accreditation of our laboratory for forensics work tied to court testimony. Once accredited, either through acquisition of another forensic operation or development of our own operation, we will also be able to offer conventional DNA testing to our clients. Accreditation would allow us to capture a portion of this market and to offer a full range of services to our clients.
It is our intention, over time, to broaden our forensics product line. Additional tests that we hope to add to our product line include hair color, and skin shade. Other tests that we could develop in the future include bone mass, to predict body size, height, and detached and attached ear lobes. We have added nearly 3,000 hair samples to our hair color research and as with eye color service, RETINOME(TM); we are in the early stages of researching and developing the necessary marker combinations in order to be able to validate the test. We do not expect validation to be completed in 2005 but perhaps in early 2007 a hair color version will be beta tested.
We introduced RETINOME(TM), our eye color test, to the forensics community, and the test have thus far has not been used on any cases. We have, however performed over 20 pro bono tests and we are not permitted to discuss the results due to confidentiality. The service was introduced in late 2004, and we are working on developing a kit format for the test as well. We do not anticipate that this kit to be available until late 2005. Earlier in the year, we introduced our EUROWitness(TM) 1.0 test to the forensics community, and to date, this new service has been used on three cases. This test helps narrow the field of investigation by providing investigators with more detailed information on the potential inherited genes. We have expanded our database to include markers from four major ancestry groups to eight. The total number of markers now represent Sub Saharan African, Indo European, East Asian, Native American, Northern European, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Indo. Combining this with our RETINOME(TM) test, a DNA sample obtained at a crime scene could describe a person of interest in much greater detail. Although to date, no agency has used the combined test to describe a person of interest.
Over the course of 2004 we have also added nearly 1,500 volunteers to our photo database and eye color database arrays. These volunteers have received a free ANCESTRYbyDNA(TM) 2.5 report for providing their DNA and photos of their faces and eyes. We now have nearly 3.000 individual donors in our database covering a wide diversity of individuals from around the world. We expect the database to continue to grow through 2005 as we add new service and product features. Our goal is to provide the investigators with as much information as possible on the crime scene DNA samples so that they may narrow the focus of their investigations, corroborate eye witness reports or develop a `person of interest' description from the scientific data that we supply.
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