Parabon NanoLabs, Inc. is an American company based in Reston, Virginia that develops nanopharmaceuticals and provides DNA phenotyping services for law enforcement organizations.
History Parabon NanoLabs, a subsidiary of Parabon Computation, a computing software provider, was founded in 2008 by Steven Armentrout, Michael Norton and Christopher Dwyer. In 2018 Armentrout was the chief executive officer and President of Parabon Computation. Parabon NanoLabs has developed oncology therapeutics and synthetic vaccines using nanotechnology and DNA phenotyping.
Products
inSēquio Design Studio Together with the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, the United States Army Research Office and the National Science Foundation as part of a project in the Federal Small Business Innovation Research program, Parabon developed a computer aided design software called inSēquio Design Studio for nanoengineering DNA constructs. This software was used to design and develop synthetic vaccines.
Snapshot Snapshot DNA Phenotyping Service is the name of a DNA phenotyping tool developed by Parabon NanoLabs which creates composite face imaging sketches based on DNA samples. The algorithms used to make the composites are not open source, however, which has attracted criticism from members of the scientific community. Moses Schanfield, professor of forensic sciences at George Washington University, criticized the lack of any peer review, noting that there is no publicly available performance record for the product. In a 2016 article the American Civil Liberties Union recommended only using genetic phenotyping "...where the link between genes and external characteristics is based on well-proven, peer-reviewed, widely accepted science, such as is apparently now the case with hair and eye color." Skin color predictions have been reported to be somewhat reliable but not predictions of the shape of the face. North Carolina detectives felt Parabon's Snapshot DNA Phenotyping Service had been helpful in identifying Jose Alvarez Jr. in 2015 as the killer of Troy and LaDonna French in 2012. Privacy restrictions in 2019 on the use of GEDmatch for genetic genealogy may make DNA phenotyping more common. Illumina, Inc. and Identitas AG are reported to offer similar DNA phenotyping services. The United States Department of Defense provided approximately $2,000,000 in development financing for Snapshot.
Keystone Parabon NanoLabs was awarded a two-year contract by the United States Department of Defense to develop a software platform dubbed 'Keystone' for the forensic analysis of DNA evidence.
Genetic genealogy
In May 2018 Parabon NanoLabs appointed genealogist CeCe Moore as head of their genetic genealogy unit with three genealogists working for her.
In cooperation with American law enforcement, Parabon uploaded DNA evidence from crime scenes to GEDmatch in an attempt to identify perpetrators.
In November 2018 Parabon said they were working on 200 cases, 55% had produced leads and in May 2019 they said were solving cold cases at the rate of one a week.
In May 2019, GEDmatch required people who had uploaded their DNA to its site to specifically opt in to allow law enforcement agencies to access their information. This change in privacy policy was forecast to make it much more difficult in the future for law enforcement agencies and Parabon to identify suspects and solve cold cases using genetic genealogy.
According to an article published by Los Angeles Times in November 2019, "[CeCe] Moore said Parabon has opened about 300 DNA searches and that the lab has solved almost 100 cases — though arrests have not yet been made in several dozen of those cases." In May 2020 it was reported that Parabon had participated in nearly 500 cases with 109 suspect positive identifications.
In December 2019, it was announced that GEDmatch was sold to forensic, for-profit, DNA analysis company Verogen, whose CEO Brett Williams vowed to make the database safer for its customers, including fighting search warrants.
In a May 2020 interview with Scott Fisher of the podcast Extreme Genes, Moore revealed that in her capacity as the genetic genealogy lead, she no longer uses GEDmatch exclusively because of the decline of profiles available to law enforcement. Moore stated, "So, it would be better obviously, if we still had access to the full [GEDmatch] database, that million plus profiles, but it hasn't stopped us. Also, we are using Family Tree DNA more and more all the time. Parabon is not able to upload directly but the agencies we work with can get the raw data from us and upload it to Family Tree DNA and then come back with that login information for us. So, we're also helping to solve some cases with Family Tree DNA matches now. And as you know, theirs is the opt-out situation where you're automatically opted in if you're a US customer, unless you choose to opt out." This restricted direct-access limitation may be due to the fact that FamilyTreeDNA has their own genetic genealogy consultant, Barbara Rae-Venter, who solved the Golden State Killer cold case in May 2018.
On 26 May 2020, the ABC television network premiered The Genetic Detective, featuring Parabon's Moore, Steven Armentrout, Ph.D., and Ellen McRae Greytak, Ph.D. The hour-long episodes feature cases that Moore's genetic genealogy team has worked on since she started with Parabon.
The following list of case results may offer an overview of Parabon's increasing activity.
Case results: To trial The following cases include suspects who were identified and then arrested for the indicated offenses. All suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Convictions are highlighted in green.
Suspect(s) Offense(s) and victim(s) Location of offense(s) Offense date(s) Arrested Outcome Felipe Vianney Hernandez Tellez Rape and murder of 26-year-old Adrienne "Sunny" Sudweeks Costa Mesa, California, USA 1997-02-22 Fugitive DNA and fingerprint evidence was used to match Tellez, a Mexican national living in Santa Ana at the time, to the crime scene. He was found to be living in Oaxaca, Mexico, but so far has not been extradited to stand trial for Sudweeks' murder. Kenneth Canzater Jr. Murders of 25-year-old Candra Alston and her 3-year-old daughter Malaysia Boykin Columbia, South Carolina, USA 2011-01-07 2017-03-23 Canzater, an acquaintance of Alston who had previously been considered a suspect in the case, was linked to the crime scene via a partial palm print that was later matched to his DNA, obtained from a 2005 robbery conviction in California. He was later arrested at a motel in Corona, California, and extradited to South Carolina to face trial. In 2020, he was convicted on two counts of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. Jason David Martinez and Kadian Andre Garfield Roper Murder of 31-year-old Michael Todd Hamilton Coral Springs, Florida, USA 2011-07-11 2017-09-19 Both men's DNA was linked to the crime via spit and a juice bottle recovered that they had left behind. Martinez, who was living in Manhattan, New York City, and refused to provide a DNA swab, has pleaded not guilty, while Roper has implicated both himself and the former in Hamilton's murder. In June 2023, Martinez was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Hugo Giron-Polanco Sexual battery and rape Davie, Florida, USA 2010-11-26 2017-12-28 Giron-Polanco, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was linked to the crime via saliva police had collected from his victims' breast. He was charged with the rape, convicted and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. Oscar Roberto Nunez Gonzalez Sexual assault of a 4-year-old Mesa, Arizona, USA 2017-01-09 2018-03-14 Gonzalez was initially arrested on a DUI charge, but a DNA sample acquired from him was later matched to the crime scene. He has admitted guilt in the case, and is now charged with one count of sexual conduct with a minor, one count of public sexual indecency and one count of second-degree burglary. In 2019, Gonzalez pleaded guilty to one count of child molestation and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. William Earl Talbott II Murders of Tanya Van Cuylenborg and Jay Cook Snohomish County, Washington, USA 1987-11-18 2018-05-17 Was found guilty of two counts of aggregated first-degree murder on June 28, 2019. On July 24, 2019, Talbott was sentenced to serve two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. This case was the first in which CeCe Moore provided a suspect's name based on extensive genetic genealogical research. It is also the first conviction in which genetic genealogy played an integral part. CeCe Moore was interviewed (audio recording) about this case and the future of genetic genealogy considering the new restrictions that have come as a result of privacy concerns. Gary Charles Hartman Rape and murder of 12-year-old Michella Welch Tacoma, Washington, USA 1986-03-26 2018-06-20 Hartman and a brother were first identified as persons of interest, but Hartman was ultimately identified using DNA from a discarded napkin. In 2019 Washington state passed "Jennifer and Michella's law" named after Michella Welch and Jennifer Bastian (see below). This law allowed police more latitude in taking DNA samples from convicted sex offenders. In 2022, he was sentenced to 26 years imprisonment. Alexander Christopher Ewing "Hammer Murders" of the Bennett family Aurora, Colorado, USA 1984-01-16 2018-07-10 In addition to the murders of Bruce, Patricia and Melissa Bennett and the attempted murder of Vanessa Bennet, the then-unidentified killer's DNA was linked to the rape-murder of 50-year-old Patricia Smith in Lakewood six days earlier. At the time of his arrest, Ewing was serving a sentence in Nevada for the attempted murder of a couple near Henderson. In July 2021, he was found guilty of the Colorado crimes and sentenced to three consecutive life terms. Matthew Norman Dusseault Stabbing death of 81-year-old Constance Gauthier Woonsocket, Rhode Island, USA 2016-03-23 2018-07-18 Dusseault's DNA matched the crime scene DNA and when interviewed by police, he implicated Tyler Grenon. Both men were charged with murder and conspiracy, however the charges against Grenon have since been dropped and Dusseault is being held without bail. Convicted in January 2025. Michael Frank Allen Henslick Fatal stabbing and sexual assault of 22-year-old Holly Cassano Champaign, Illinois, USA 2009-11-02 2018-08-28 Although a convicted felon, Henslick had managed to avoid DNA testing. A discarded cigarette butt was used to connect him with the Cassano murder after genetic genealogy identified him as a person of interest. At the time of the murder Henslick lived a few blocks away from Cassano in a mobile home park. Police said he admitted to Cassano's murder when arrested but Henslick pleaded not guilty at his trial. Henslick was convicted in February 2020 and sentenced the following June to life in prison without parole. Because he had continued to evade court-ordered collection of his DNA to be placed in CODIS with past convictions, a serious look at collection enforcement in felony cases has been proposed by Cassano's mother, who wants federal law to be changed so that DNA is taken immediately in the courtroom at the time of conviction. Marlon Michael Alexander Serial rapes Montgomery County, Maryland, USA 2007 - 2011 2018-09-13 Attacked at least four elderly women in Gaithersburg and Germantown, forcing two of his victims to have sex with him. Alexander would later plead guilty to first-degree rape and first-degree sexual assault at his trial, receiving a life term. Luke Edward Fleming Rape and murder of 47-year-old Deborah Dalzell Sarasota County, Florida, USA 1999-03-29 2018-09-16