Unsolved Crime: Houston-area lab, Othram Inc. uses new DNA technology to help identify victims and offenders

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Othram built his lab in The Woodlands in 2019. Othram’s Kristen Mittelman said the company uses DNA sequencing and genomic technology to identify victims and perpetrators for law enforcement.

“People never have to wait decades to find out what happened to their loved one ever again,” said Kristen Mittelman. “As I said, you need a very small percentage of the population to be able to identify everyone. That small percentage of the population is already in those databases, so no, you couldn’t opt ​​out. If you left DNA at a crime scene, I’m here to tell you, chances are you’ll get caught. It is now a matter of time. We solved murders from 62 years ago.

Othram CEO David Mittelman welcomed ABC13 to his campus in early April. There he showed us the cartridges used in their sequencer to create a DNA profile derived from evidence that is often worn out over time or too small to extract using traditional methods.

“Which street corner can you go to to solve a cold case?” said David Mittelman. “We saw an opportunity to bring the technology to an area that is massively underserved.”

So far they have seen success. Othram’s website has several cases solved with her help and expertise.

They use the site for crowdfunding because they don’t have dedicated funding and the technology costs around $5,000 per cold case.

“Until we can bridge that gap between people who know the technology exists and the government that actually funds that technology so it can work at scale in the United States.” We need people like you to come out here and tell this story,” said Kristen Mittelmann. “To explain the difference and raise awareness of what is possible so that it is required.”

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