INTRODUCCIÓN
La genética forense es un campo de la genética que consta de un conjunto de conocimientos de genética necesarios para resolver problemas jurídicos. Las pruebas más comunes solicitadas por casos judiciales son pruebas de paternidad, en casos judiciales de custodia de menores y manutenciones; estudios de restos biológicos como manchas de sangre, esperma, pelos, etc. para la resolución de homicidios, violaciones, o muertes en extrañas circunstancias; también es necesaria en la identificación de restos con carácter cultural, arqueológico, programas de identificación de restos de posibles familiares desaparecidos o asuntos de inmigración.
De los grupos sanguíneos al ADN
Las primeras aplicaciones en casos de investigación surgieron en 1912 después de que en 1900, Karl Landsteiner, descubriera el grupo AB0 y solo dos años después de que demostrara la herencia de este grupo.
La ciencia avanza hasta el descubrimiento de nuevos antígenos eritrocitarios polimórficos como el Rh, MNSs o Duffy que tienen una herencia mendeliana simple y que constituyen variantes alélicas significativas en la población.
No será hasta 1960 cuando se descubran marcadores mas informativos y objetivos, serán polimorfismos proteicos y enzimáticos de eritrocitos y leucocitos analizados por pruebas electroforéticas.
En 1970 se produce un gran avance en cuanto a técnicas de paternidad al incluir los antígenos del sistema mayor de histocompatibilidad, HLA. Sin embargo todos estos marcadores genéticos presentaban muchas limitaciones ya que era muy difícil obtener información de muestras degradadas o en escasa cantidad. También era imposible realizar la prueba de paternidad partiendo por ejemplo de restos óseos o de familiares biológica...
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...levado a cabo bases de datos con perfiles genéticos.
La guardia civil posee una Base de Datos Genéticos de Investigación Criminal conocida con las siglas ADNIC y junto con el programa FÉNIX están integradas en el sistema CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) con más de dos millones de perfiles de 13 microsatélites, procedentes de individuos que han sido condenados por algún delito o de escenas criminales, cedido por el FBI.
La guardia civil española posee su propio laboratorio de análisis para pruebas de criminalística y con el significativo avance para estas técnicas como el sistema Multiplex se puede hacer una PCR de varios marcadores genéticos.
En el Reino Unido, el National DNA Database (NDNAD) puede incluir el perfil genético (10 microsatélites) de cualquier ciudadano que sea arrestado por algún delito.
79%, were heterozygous. We concluded that it is possible to examine small amounts of DNA by
Wilson, Jim. Criminal Genes. Popular Science. Pars International Corp. New York, NY. November 12, 2002. http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/1282176.html
The analysis of the samples should be used only to confirm or negate match between the sample taken from the crime scene fgand the sample taken from the suspect. That is, it should sdfremain as an identifgication tool only. There should be no further analysis of the DNA to suggest psychological characteristics that would make the suspect more likely to have cdfommitted the crime. This rule should apply also to samples taken from convicted dfdoffenders for a data vor dagta bank.
Singer N. In Fighting Crime, How Wide Should a Genetic Net Reach? The New York Times [Internet]. 2010 [cited 21 May 2012]; N. page. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/business/25stream.html?_r=1.
Easteal, McCleod, and Reed. DNA Profiling: Principles, Pitfalls and Potential. Switzerland: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1991.
A continuous debate arises confirming that the genetic makeup of individuals may be linked to criminal acts. For example, with regards to Nature being a cause of Juvenile Delinquency, this suggests that the juvenile was born with the trait, and they are innate. "In Iowa, the first adoption study was conducted that looked at the genetics of criminal behavior. The researchers found that as compared to the control group, the adopted individuals, which were born to incarcerated female offenders, had a ...
As the world gets older, our technology gets stronger. When it comes to criminal cases such as homicides, the blooming of technology can be ever in the investigators favor. With the Grim Sleeper case in Los Angeles, DNA technology became a wonderful tool for the investigators. In the United States, the first appellate court decision to admit DNA evidence was made in Florida in 1998, in subsequent years DNA evidence gradually became a regular feature of criminal cases (Lewis 2010.) Having the technology we have today, we can connect recent cases with cold cases. A break in technology for this case was the outstanding familial DNA testing. This happened when the “Grim Sleeper” returned.
The collection of DNA in an investigation is used most often to determine who the perpetrator(s) might be in a crime. There has been a rapid growth since its inception and legal and ethical issues have arisen. In the Double –Helix Double-Edged ...
"Genetics in the Courtroom." Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 21 Nov. 2002. 10 Dec. 2002 [http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis/courts/courts.html].
The National DNA Index (NDIS) contains over 8,483,906 offender profiles and 324,318 forensic profiles as of June 2010 (Federal Bureau of Investigations, 2010). It has been suggested by Froomkin, a Senior Washington Correspondent, that the FBI is “shifting its resources from forensics to feeding the database” (Froomkin, 2010). This dramatic shift curtails some of the benefits of the CODIS application to the criminal justice system, as the backlogs of DNA samples increase and the statutes of limitations grow nearer and nearer on unsolved crimes.
Prime, Raymond J., and Jonathan Newman. "The Impact of DNA on Policing: Past, Present, and
Most studies have shown that popular opinion holds that without a doubt national DNA databases have proved useful in criminal investigations (Wallace, 2006, pS27). The concept of a national DNA database has raised concern about privacy and human rights as seen through the scope of public safety. All of these concerns are elevated with databases include convicted, arrestee, innocent, and “rehabilitated” offenders (Suter, 2010, p339). Robin Williams of University of Duham (2006) asserts that:
Allen, B., (1994). Predictive genetic testing: ethical, legal and social implications. USA Today Nov 1994:66-69. Reference 2.
The typical patterns of genetic profiles are produced by electrophoresis of treated samples of DNA. This patterns may be called fingerprints. In criminal investigations, there are tested about 10 sites of the DNA. If the banding patterns produced by the tested DNA samples of a suspect in a crime, and the samples taken from the crime scene are the same, it is enough evidence for convicting a suspect and taking him to jail. The 99% of human DNA is exactly the same for all the people, even though, a single droplet of blood, or an eyelash collected in a crime scene, contains all the genetic information needed of every single person in the world, to convict a criminal. DNA profiling has have a huge impact in many things, from the...
TANNENBAUN, B, (2007),Profs link criminal behaviour to genetics [online] , Available at: http://thedp.com/index.php/article/2007/11/profs_link_criminal_behavior_to_genetics [accessed 16th October 2011].