Lesson plan

Othram

Othram (also Othram Inc.) is an American corporation specializing in forensic genetic genealogy to resolve unsolved murders, disappearances, and identification of unidentified decedents or murder victims (colloquially known as John Does and Jane Does). The company offers law enforcement agencies tools and programs to infer kinship among individuals, closely and distantly related, through a combination of short tandem repeat and single nucleotide polymorphism testing, as well as forensic genome sequencing of DNA. Othram has assisted with identifications of cold cases such as Beth Doe, Septic Tank Sam, and Delta Dawn. Many cases are not publicized until after a successful identification. Othram technology and casework inspired the 500th episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

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Article summary

Othram (also Othram Inc.) is an American corporation specializing in forensic genetic genealogy to resolve unsolved murders, disappearances, and identification of unidentified decedents or murder victims (colloquially known as John Does and Jane Does). The company offers law enforcement agencies tools and programs to infer kinship among individuals, closely and distantly related, through a combination of short tandem repeat and single nucleotide polymorphism testing, as well as forensic genome sequencing of DNA. Othram has assisted with identifications of cold cases such as Beth Doe, Septic Tank Sam, and Delta Dawn. Many cases are not publicized until after a successful identification. Othram technology and casework inspired the 500th episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Key claims

  1. date of death: 2015 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of death is "2015". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1374617091

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.