Anwar’s sodomy trial: Chemist maintains only DNA of Male Y was found
(The Star) – Chemist Nor Aidora Saedon maintained her stand that only Male Y’s DNA profile was found on the towel she had analysed.
Nor Aidora, who is from the Chemistry Department, said the DNA profiling conducted on the towel was accurate and free of contamination.
“If you look at the profile as a whole, you will be able to see that it is a single profile.
“There is no mixed profile,” she explained during re-examination by DPP Noorin Badaruddin.
She had earlier come under fire from defence lawyer Karpal Singh, who accused her of failing to report the presence of an allele in her interpretation of the electropherogram readings (results from DNA sequencing analysis), according to laboratory standards. (An allele is a version of a gene at a given location (locus) along a chromosome.)
This, he said, would have given a different result and would have revealed another person’s DNA.
Nor Aidora, however, was adamant that the particular allele in question was negligible as it only occurred once.
On Wednesday, the chemist had informed the court that the DNA profile taken from a white toothbrush, a towel and a mineral water bottle matched the DNA profile of Male Y, whose semen was found inside the anus of complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Yesterday, the chemist also testified that the Chemistry Department director-general had personally called her on July 3, 2008, asking her to handle a high-profile case.
She had received the call at about lunchtime and was told to wait for some samples, which would arrive that day.
Nor Aidora agreed that this was not the norm, and that most cases came via the front counter.
Anwar, 63, has been charged with performing carnal intercourse against the order of nature on Mohd Saiful at a condominium unit in Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, between 3.15pm and 4pm on June 26, 2008. The hearing before Justice Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah continues on Monday.
