YOUNG VOICES: Patenting genes could jeopardize future discoveries

Scientists are developing bio-engineered organs, water was discovered on Mars, and a man jumped from 24 miles in the stratosphere back to Earth. Science and discovery are peaking; science and discovery are, put simply, American.

OFFBEAT: Readers ask about 'Jeffersons' actor Hemsley's final chapter

Phil Potempa's daily entertainment news column.

Portage man, 53, charged with residential entry through DNA link

HOBART | The DNA of a 53-year-old Portage man linked him to an Oct. 6 Hobart house break-in, police said.

Prosecutors: DNA match leads to charges in 2002 Munster rape case

CROWN POINT | Prosecutors on Monday charged a Hammond man with rape after his DNA matched samples from crimes in other states, according to court records.

DNA test shows missing 19-year-old was Gacy victim

CHICAGO | After her older brother disappeared in 1976, Laura O'Leary suspected the 19-year-old construction worker probably had died at the hands of John Wayne Gacy. But the family was never able to prove it.

Judge allows DNA sample from murder suspect in teacher slaying

CROWN POINT | A DNA sample will be collected from a Merrillville 16-year-old charged in the slaying of an 80-year-old Gary teacher.

Former Gary man convicted of 1992 cold-case murder

CROWN POINT | A Lake Criminal Court jury convicted a downstate Indiana man Thursday afternoon of the long-unsolved murder of a Gary woman.

Ind. Supreme Court OKs taking of cheek swab DNA sample

INDIANAPOLIS | Likening the taking of a cheek swab DNA sample to police fingerprinting a criminal suspect, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoosiers do not have a right to consult an attorney prior to giving up their DNA.

PDF: Indiana Supreme Court ruling in Garcia-Torres v. State

Likening the taking of a cheek swab DNA sample to police fingerprinting a criminal suspect, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoosiers do not have a right to consult an attorney prior to giving up their DNA

Calumet students track DNA clues

Penny Beerntsen, a speaker/advocate on criminal justice issues, tells how she had a hand in a wrongful conviction. Behind her is a mug shot of Steven Avery, the man who was wrongly convicted and later exonerated thanks to the Wisconsin Innocence Project. Beerntsen was speaking to sophomores …

Calumet students track DNA clues

From left, Kayla Brooks and Amanda Bratton, sophomores at Calumet High School, talk with Catherine Schur, a student at Northwestern University School of Law, after Schur gave a presentation about DNA and wrongful convictions to sophomores at the school.

Calumet students track DNA clues

Sophomore Haley Johnson listens to a presentation on wrongful convictions given by Northwestern University School of Law as part of her biohealth course at Calumet High.

Amelia Earhart

This photo provided by The International Group For Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) shows researchers working last month at the dig site on the uninhabited island of Nikumaroro, in the South Pacific. Researchers say they found bone fragments that could help prove that famed aviator Amelia…

Gary man wrongfully convicted of rape sues Hammond, city police

A Gary man wrongfully convicted of raping and robbing an employee at a Hammond gas station now is suing the city and some of its police officers after he spent more than 17 years behind bars.