There is no greater way for a product or service to gain credibility than to hear directly from the people who are using it.  As a relatively new technology, the M-Vac System has gradually worked its way into the sampling protocols and procedures of a number of labs and agencies, helping to solve crimes that otherwise may have never been solved.  Here are a few quotes regarding the technology and the impact it is having.

“Our Agency is in the process of purchasing the M-Vac System known for its advancements in DNA collection. Our department has already experienced success with this device…” – Alameda County Sheriff’s Office

“What we do in the field is dip the swab in water and wipe and you collect a little more [DNA] that way, but let’s say it’s on a piece of clothing; I want to get the DNA. Then you want to use the way you clean clothes, right? Which is you inject a liquid and you suck it out.” – Dr. Greg Hampikian, Director of the Idaho Innocence Project

“The M-Vac is the most powerful DNA collection method that we have ever witnessed. Our first unit was acquired July 30th, 2014. The unit was used as a last resort to process a brick in a brutal homicide that had stalled with the lack of substantial forensic evidence. Within one week of using the M-Vac, the full profile of the murderer was revealed and that case was solved. Our partnership with M-Vac Systems is highly valued as our positive case results remain continuous.”  — Sgt Stewart Mosher

“We’ve been researching this collection method for some time, but only got a first hand look at it recently and just started testing it this month.  Now that we have validated the M-Vac System ourselves, we are totally comfortable adopting it into our DNA collection processes, and are eager to use it in actual case work samples; especially on the more challenging evidence where DNA collection is most difficult. We are confident this new system will help our agency get DNA results where they may not have been achievable before, and that will be a good investment for our community.”  — Rachel Grant, DNA TL

“Over the past year, DLI has utilized the M-Vac System on a wide variety of samples including items such as clothing, ropes, and even a car. One of the most common problems that forensic scientists encounter when screening clothing items for DNA is that there is often a great amount of DNA from the wearer, but very little from individuals that came into contact with the wearer. This is a situation where the M-Vac® collection system can be very helpful.”

“Overall, the M-Vac collection system is a very useful tool while screening evidence, especially in cases where very minor amounts of DNA are present over a large surface area. Using this system, DNA profiles have been generated that were not possible to obtain when previously generally swabbing the evidence.”  — Cristina Rentas, Senior DNA Analyst

“Initially what was found was a partial Y-STR that had only 5 markers. All 5 of those matched John Wall but also matched his male children.  The case went on for over a year before the M-Vac was used.  It was huge.  It was a huge development. The DNA the M-Vac found was one of two deciding factors in filing the murder charges.  Without the M-Vacing we had limited DNA and limited results.  It’s a great machine.”  — Detective Cordon Parks

“The M-Vac worked, and it worked well.  It consistently collected more DNA. It worked well with our downstream DNA processes and instruments. The question for us is where and when to use it. In some cases, the traditional swabbing method is still a reasonable option. However, this collection technique will enhance our ability to collect DNA from some more challenging evidence. It will work well with contact DNA, where the location of the contact is unknown and the quantities are small or the surface area is large. I look forward to finalizing the study and fully implementing this technology into operation.”  — Michael Garvey, Ph.D., Director

“There are many officers, analysts and agencies that need to be thanked for their part in solving the Beslanowitch homicide. Without a doubt, the M-Vac System is the major tool that allowed us to make critical DNA connections in this case.”  — Sheriff Todd Bonner