DNA Fingerprinting

1107 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of dna fingerprinting in criminal investigation

Should all newborn babies have their DNA fingerprint stored on a central database?
DNA fingerprinting is a process that has been subject to widespread debate ever since it has come into practise. Fingerprinting involves identifying and creating an image of a person’s genetic information. As each individual carries their own DNA fingerprint—meaning that no two will ever be the same—it is often used for identification purposes and can produce a very reliable, if not indisputable result. This makes the DNA fingerprinting very useful within the field of forensics, as well as in paternity testing and law enforcement. Despite its various uses, the debate goes on about the usage of the process. Many are concerned about their right to privacy, with DNA being an incredibly personal thing. What if the database containing this information was hacked, or forms another type of discrimination? Currently, Australia stores the DNA profiles of samples collected by the Australian police, including samples found at crime scenes, from convicted offenders, suspects, missing persons and unidentified deceased persons on the National Criminal Investigation DNA Database (NCIDD) (CrimTrac 2011). Similar databases are held around the world. Therefore, the question remains, would there be purpose in storing the DNA fingerprint of all newborn babies on a central database, to creating a database storing all of a populations genetic information, similar to that of the NCIDD?
DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, determines the function and structure of all living things. The molecule is made up of many nucleotides, structures that consist of a deoxyribose sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogen base (either adenine, cytosine, thymine or guanine). The nucleotide...

... middle of paper ...

...suring the process does not cross moral boundaries, the fingerprinting at birth in aim to create a database would be advantageous in various areas. These areas include law enforcement, paternity testing and increasing safety of citizens. However, as it has been noted that fingerprinting is not an indisputable measure than once thought, is the risk of misidentification worth taking knowing it has led so serious issues including wrongful imprisonment?
I believe that the creation of a database would be valuable. However, the use of the database should regulated and restricted to the use of government agencies (being the police, etc.) or in medical situations. Before definitive decisions have been made regarding such a thing being formed, public opinion should be evaluated and law should be put into place ensuring that use of the database does not get out of control.

Show More
Related

  • Herman Atkins Case Study

    444 Words  | 1 Pages

    It is also thought that DNA fingerprinting and databases lead to racial disparities within the criminal justice system, since the majority of incarcerated persons are of African American or Latino decent (Chow-White). The ethical argument is that while DNA sample collections are legal and undoubtedly helpful in obtaining convictions, it on the other hand supports and in some ways promote racial disparities (Chow- White). At the urging of multiple anti-watchdog groups, legislation for changes in polices and institutional practices must be implemented to address these disparities and protect individuals within these demographics. The suggestion of encrypted digital codes that limit the information revealed by these databases to individuals are also being evaluated

    Read More

  • The Use of Force to Gain DNA Samples

    547 Words  | 2 Pages

    DNA evidence should not be colvcslected from suspects as a matter of routine. To do so will cause unnecessary privacy intrusion; in the vast majority of criminal cases DNA evidence will contribute nothing to the investigation. Thus, it would not be appropriate for Parliament to give blanket authority to collect DNA samples from all persons suspected of indictable offences. DNA should also not be collected from a suspect if investigators have no DNA evidence with which to compare the suspect's sample. Nor would a DNA sample be necessary if the suspect admitted guilt.

    Read More

  • Familial DNA Searching

    1418 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nowadays, DNA is a crucial component of a crime scene investigation, used to both to identify perpetrators from crime scenes and to determine a suspect’s guilt or innocence (Butler, 2005). The method of constructing a distinctive “fingerprint” from an individual’s DNA was first described by Alec Jeffreys in 1985. He discovered regions of repetitions of nucleotides inherent in DNA strands that differed from person to person (now known as variable number of tandem repeats, or VNTRs), and developed a technique to adjust the length variation into a definitive identity marker (Butler, 2005). Since then, DNA fingerprinting has been refined to be an indispensible source of evidence, expanded into multiple methods befitting different types of DNA samples. One of the more controversial practices of DNA forensics is familial DNA searching, which takes partial, rather than exact, matches between crime scene DNA and DNA stored in a public database as possible leads for further examination and information about the suspect. Using familial DNA searching for investigative purposes is a reliable and advantageous method to convict criminals.

    Read More

  • The Themes Of DNA And Ridley's Genome By Matt Ridley

    1954 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of society’s problems is that the wrong people are convicted of a crime they did not commit. None have more dire consequences on those than who are wrongly convicted of rape and murder. The punishment for these crimes are as harsh as possible to deter the crimes and when wrongly convicted, the wrong person gets punished while the true perpetrator gets away. In order to increase the chance of convicting the true perpetrator of the crime, the tools to find and convict criminals had to be refined. And it was refined due to extensive research into DNA. This research was done by Alec Jeffreys and Vicky Wilson, the research’s technician, and it found that in the massive amount of junk codes, there exists many repetitious codes that have copied so many times that it varies from person to person. (Ridley 132) This means that people can be identified with only their DNA from their hair, fluids, skin, etc. This discovery has led to convictions of rapists and murderers such as the Pickford case that Ridley wrote about. It has also led to the sentences of many wrongly convicted people to be retracted and this had led to the release of about 200 people known as the DNA 200. (Phelan) Now, most of the world keeps criminals’ genotype information in order to identify repeat offenders. In the United States, every state requires that every convicted

    Read More

  • The Future Potential of DNA Fingerprinting

    1341 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gest, Ted. " DNA "Fingerprinting " is Facing a Major Legal Challenge from Defense Attorneys and Civil Libertarians."

    Read More

  • Computer Matching Versus Privacy

    2152 Words  | 5 Pages

    What if the government were not allowed to ask you for information that is discoverable through computer matching? Should the government be allowed to use this technique to yield the same information? This ethical dilemma is covered in this paper. Relevant information will be used from the laws in the United States and the European Union to illustrate the different perspectives on the privacy of citizens and the approaches each government takes to it.

    Read More

  • DNA Fingerprinting And PCR

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    DNA fingerprinting, or sometimes known as DNA typing, is isolating and developing images of sequences of DNA to evaluate the DNA in an individual’s cells. DNA fingerprinting today is used for many different things in many different areas of science. In forensic science, DNA typing can determine which person did which crime by using blood or skin left at a crime scene. In medical science, patients can find out who their siblings, parents, or children are by using DNA fingerprinting (webmd).

    Read More

  • Going Deep Into Forensic Science and its Technology

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although people in society may have been wishing as a kid that they could go out and catch the bad guy with only a fingerprint and some DNA. It has been proven that this is not as simple as TV shows and/or movies make it out to be. From spending up to four years in college to obtain a certain degree to actually being able to make into this field to be one of the many humans who get to experience what it is like to be a part of catching the bad guy. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication and patience but once one is able to reach this goal it would be noticed that all the blood, sweat, and DNA was all worth it.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of DNA Collection And Its Relationship To Solving Crime

    1511 Words  | 4 Pages

    This paper explores deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) collection and its relationship to solving crimes. The collection of DNA is one of the most important steps in identifying a suspect in a crime. DNA evidence can either convict or exonerate an individual of a crime. Furthermore, the accuracy of forensic identification of evidence has the possibility of leaving biased effects on a juror (Carrell, Krauss, Liberman, Miethe, 2008). This paper examines Carrells et al’s research along with three other research articles to review how DNA is collected, the effects that is has on a juror and the pros and cons of DNA collection in the Forensic Science and Criminal Justice community.

    Read More

  • Genetic Information vs Privacy

    699 Words  | 2 Pages

    The genetic technology revolution has proved to be both a blessing and a blight. The Human Genome Project is aimed at mapping and sequencing the entire human genome. DNA chips are loaded with information about human genes. The chip reveals specific information about the individuals’ health and genetic makeup (Richmond & Germov 2009).The technology has been described as a milestone by many in that it facilitates research, screening, and treatment of genetic conditions. However, there have been fears that the technology permits a reduction in privacy when the information is disclosed. Many argue that genetic information can also be used unfairly to discriminate against or stigmatize individuals (Willis 2009).

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of DNA Fingerprinting

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    The theory of DNA, simply stated, is that an individual’s genetic information is unique, with the exception of identical twins, and that it “definitively links biological evidence such as blood, semen, hair and tissue to a single individual” (Saferstein, 2013). This theory has been generally accepted since the mid-80s throughout the scientific community and hence, pursuant to the 1923 Frye ruling, also deemed admissible evidence throughout our justice system.

    Read More

  • An Argument About Fingerprinting Everyone in Canada

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone in Canada should be photographed and fingerprinted because it would make it easier to catch criminals and over all make a law enforcement officer’s job less stressful. The reason for this would be that officers can identify who committed a crime by simply scanning a bank robber’s face from a surveillance camera then matching the photograph they took of him even 20 years ago (all because technology is moving so fast). This would not be an invasion of privacy because the police officers would not be using the face recognition from the photograph or fingerprints as a device to search through people’s personal lives, it would be used to identify criminals and would also help prevent crime from occurring. I.e. if people knew the government had a face recognizer and can instantly match fingerprints, many people would decide to rather live a crime free life and earn an honest way of living because they know that if the police are called to the crime, they can scan the fingerprints and find a match. The data base that holds this information would also help direct law enforcement to where the suspect lives, works, goes every week, the car he drive etc. which would help in quickly apprehending the culprit and bringing him to justice. An example of how useful fingerprinting technology is was when Jerry Watson was convicted of committing murder 30 years earlier. At the time (1978), the latent fingerprint from the crime scene could not give the police any leads. Technology kept advancing, which allowed the police force identify and test the fingerprint and after a few days, they identified the culprit to be Jerry Watson. Seeing that the idea of everyone being fingerprinted and photographed would solve and prevent crime in Canada, it would be a good idea to implement it into society.

    Read More

  • Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations

    2857 Words  | 6 Pages

    Before the 1980s, courts relied on testimony and eyewitness accounts as a main source of evidence. Notoriously unreliable, these techniques have since faded away to the stunning reliability of DNA forensics. In 1984, British geneticist Alec Jeffreys of the University of Leicester discovered an interesting new marker in the human genome. Most DNA information is the same in every human, but the junk code between genes is unique to every person. Junk DNA used for investigative purposes can be found in blood, saliva, perspiration, sexual fluid, skin tissue, bone marrow, dental pulp, and hair follicles (Butler, 2011). By analyzing this junk code, Jeffreys found certain sequences of 10 to 100 base pairs repeated multiple times. These tandem repeats are also the same for all people, but the number of repetitions is highly variable. Before this discovery, a drop of blood at a crime scene could only reveal a person’s blood type, plus a few proteins unique to certain people. Now DNA forensics can expose a person’s gender, race, susceptibility to diseases, and even propensity for high aggression or drug abuse (Butler, 2011). More importantly, the certainty of DNA evidence is extremely powerful in court. Astounded at this technology’s almost perfect accuracy, the FBI changed the name of its Serology Unit to the DNA Analysis Unit in 1988 when they began accepting requests for DNA comparisons (Using DNA to Solve Crimes, 2014).

    Read More

  • Overview of the Importance of DNA

    1575 Words  | 4 Pages

    DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a self-replicating molecule or material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent in chromosomes. It encodes the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and many viruses. Simply put, DNA contains the instructions needed for an organism to develop, survive and reproduce. The discovery and use of DNA has seen many changes and made great progress over many years. James Watson was a pioneer molecular biologist who is credited, along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, with discovering the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. The three won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1962 for their work (Bagley, 2013). Scientist use the term “double helix” to describe DNA’s winding, two-stranded chemical structure. This shape looks much like a twisted ladder and gives the DNA the power to pass along biological instructions with great precision.

    Read More

  • The Role of Computers in the Criminal Justice Field

    609 Words  | 2 Pages

    This can make the process of narrowing down suspects much easier. Databases of citizens’ personal information can also be found. Therefore a person could be found easily when needed for questioning.

    Read More

More about DNA Fingerprinting

Open Document