Analysis of a massive database of pink salmon DNA has revealed unexpected details about the abundant salmon species, including its ability to return to spawn at nearly the same spot within streams as their parents. Samuel May, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, led a project that […]
Scientists in northern Alaska are learning about polar bears by scraping snow samples from the tracks they leave behind. That snow contains tiny flecks of the massive creatures — mostly cells shed from their foot pads. From the DNA within those cells, scientists have been able to identify individual polar bears. Lisette Waits of the […]
(Kenai, AK) – Superior Court Judge Eric B. Smith found David Simmons guilty of five counts of violating an order to submit to DNA testing after hearing evidence at a court trial conducted on March 22, 2023. Under AS 44.41.035, persons convicted of felony offenses, or crimes against a person, are required to provide a DNA […]
(Anchorage, AK) – An Anchorage grand jury indicted 52-year-old Lawrence Andrew Lekanoff on two counts of sexual abuse of a minor on Feb. 23. Lekanoff is charged with sexually abusing a five-year-old child in an Anchorage park in 1994. The Anchorage Police Department investigated the case in 1994; efforts to identify a suspect were unsuccessful […]