What Are Ethical Issues Surrounding DNA?

than for samples that present as full profiles. 3. A partial profile is at risk of being incomplete and misleading” (Riley, 2005). Mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA) is inherited from the mother and passes down from female generations. For that reason, molecular biologists are able to link DNA from one person to a relative. I found it peculiar that albeit this specific genetic material is located in the mitochondria, which are housed within the eukaryotic cells and those cells have been reported to contain mostly introns; non coding sequences, this would be a reliable source for DNA. Issues surrounding DNA evidence and whether or not the theory, techniques, and critical procedures and protocols altogether are valid and reliable still remain a hot

This was recently the case exposed by Hsu (2015), when he reported, “The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000. Of 28 examiners with the FBI Laboratory’s microscopic hair comparison unit, 26 overstated forensic matches in ways that favored prosecutors in more than 95 percent of the 268 trials reviewed so far, according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the Innocence

DNA and how it is perceived in the boundless scientific world and how it is recognized throughout the constantly changing judicial system. From a scientific aspect, the discovery of DNA and its positive contributions has earned world-wide praise and acceptance. Paternity tests, locating genes linked to specific health problems, and tracing ancestry are just a few positive purposes. However, when genetics are factored into the judicial system by way of evidence the purpose changes. The purpose of evidence is to prove or disprove something. Evidence must adhere to specific standards set forth by higher courts. Those standards are put into place for fairness and equality. The standards for scientific evidence, particularly DNA evidence, were devised to ensure that it is valid and reliable. The reliability of evidence is based several factors but some of the important ones are the potential rates of error, the existence of maintenance and standards and whether or not they have been followed, the techniques and results that have been routinely admitted and peer reviewed, and other “fail-safe” characteristics. In addition, the Federal Rules of Evidence provide further rules and restrictions. Taking all of that into consideration and looking at the instances where DNA evidence was misinterpreted, mislabeled, produced coincidental matches and false positives, and failed to meet the criteria as valid and reliable, it is reasonable to