Use of DNA in Criminal Investigations Essay

DNA Database In 1974, a 19 year old man named James Bain was wrongly convicted of both rape and kidnapping. He was accused of raping a little boy on a baseball field in Florida. A piece of DNA was left at the scene, but the trial occurred before DNA testing was available. Although Bain could not be directly linked to the piece of DNA, blood types could be compared.

DNA testing is a critical and accurate tool in linking accused and even convicted criminals for crimes, and should be widely used to assess guilt or innocence before jail sentences are imposed. It was started up by scientists Francis C. Crick and James D, Watson in 1953 as they had described the uses, structures and purpose of the DNA “deoxyribonucleic acid” genetic fingerprint that contains organism information about an individual (testing

DNA evidence is extremely helpful in criminal trials not only because it can determine the guilt of a suspect, but also because it can keep innocent people from going to jail. The suspect must leave a sample of their DNA at the crime scene in order for testing to occur, but DNA can be found in the form of many things such as semen, blood, hair, saliva, or skin scrapings. According to Newsweek, "thousands of people have been convicted by DNA's nearly miraculous ability to search out suspects across space and time… hundreds of innocent people have also been freed, often after years behind bars, sometimes just short of the death chamber" (Adler ). Though some may think it is a waste of time to go

DNA is generally used to solve crimes. In cases where a person is identified, a sample of that person's DNA can be compared to the evidence from the crime scene. This comparison can help establish if the suspect did the crime. In cases where a suspect has not been found the biological evidence from the crime scene can be used and compared to perpetrators profiles. After observing the data, the next part is to confirm the tests. DNA can be used to determine who may or may not be a suspect. If the profile from the crime scene matches the profile from the victim, then the suspect is included as the possible source of DNA found at the crime scene. An example of DNA evidence being used in a crime can be if a man is killed and there are traces

There have been many incidents where cases have needed a solid prosecution in order to convict the defendant in a murder or rape case. This is where DNA Testing comes in to help. By taking a DNA test, a person can be found guilty or not guilty. If a person claims they have been raped there can be a sperm sample taken from the suspect in order to prove that he is guilty or not. In addition, in a murder case there can be blood taken from the suspect so they can tell of his innocence. There are several ways to determine whether a person is guilty or not by this method. Many cases have begun to use this method saying that it is foolproof. People say this is the method of the future of crime

Each person’s genome- apart from identical twins’ or other multiple births’- is distinct because of variations in allele frequencies which cause chromosomes to have certain genotypes. This indicates that when the DNA found at a crime location matches a person’s, the individual is the culprit of the crime; however, finalizing a case is not this elementary. The evidence collected from a scene does not show the person’s entire genome. While it can certainly point to suspects whose DNA matches the samples collected from the scene, it does not secure a definite criminal. Analyzing DNA requires understanding of a few complex fundamentals, but probability paired with statistical reasoning provides for a more accurate approach in assessing DNA matches.

Currently, the DNA examined and recorded for forensic purposes does no reveal the most personal of these details but the technology for doing this exists or is likely to exist in the future. The ability to use DNA to make family connection is currently the main issue raised by the use of DNA technology in law enforcement, which is bound to result in futuristic invasion of privacy or possible harassment of those who happen to be family members of possible

code” that is unique to every person. Junk DNA in investigations can usually be found in saliva,

DNA analysis technology has improved police investigations by providing the accurate potential to contribute to investigations in the following ways. Solving particularly hard cases where all the other investigative techniques have failed. Provide clues where there is no witness. Find application in an ever-widening range of cases. Reduce the number of wrong arrests and increase the reliability of the evidence. DNA has also linked together cases involving sex crimes, gang related crimes, sexual crimes, murders and even international investigations. (CalandroDennis, Reeder Karen Cormier, "Evolution of DNA Evidence for Crime Solving - A Judicial and Legislative History", 2005)

Crime is a major issue worldwide. The types of crimes vary, all differentiating in severity. Teens shoplifting candy at a grocery store, assaulting a person, and serial murders are examples of the different types of crimes. Unfortunately, many crimes that are committed the government cannot address properly because of insufficient evidence. The unidentified subject that committed a crime may leave a large amount of their DNA at the crime scene, though the DNA may not be in any databases. Identifying the subject would be increasingly difficult, and in the time dedicated to identification, the subject may perform more violations of laws. The issue of locating family members that have been separate is also a great concern among people in the United States. This is why the United States government should require all people to provide their DNA when obtaining their identification documents.

One huge technological breakthrough that has directly impacted the field of homicide investigation is DNA fingerprinting. DNA fingerprinting can be very helpful, especially in rape and murder cases. It was first used in 1984 to solve a double rape and murder case of two girls, three years apart. The first victim was Lynda Mann, a fifteen-year-old girl from Narborough, England. She was walking from one friend 's house to another, when she noticed someone standing by a lamppost close to the entrance gate of the Carlton Hayes psychiatric hospital. (McCrery, x) Lynda’s father called the police when she wasn’t home by 1:30am, but because she had not been missing for long the police were not very worried. The next morning, a hospital orderly on his way to work stumbled across what he thought to be a partially clothed mannequin, but was actually the rigid, pale body of Lynda Mann. While at the time there was not the technology to completely solve the case, “the technology that was to prove decisive in solving it [the case] was developed only a few miles from Narborough, at the University of Leicester, roughly a year after Lynda’s tragic death.” (McCrery, xi) On September 10, 1984, a biochemist by the name of Dr. Alec Jeffreys was examining an X-ray film image of a DNA experiment. While examining it, he noticed “that the DNA of different members of his technician’s family showed both

It is incredible to think that a single piece of evidence can be used to convict or acquit a suspect, but such is the case with DNA profiling. Throughout the past few decades, DNA profiling has evolved immensely from a genetic fingerprint discovered by Sir Alec Jeffreys in 1984 into an aspect of everyday forensics affecting millions of cases and trials today. Since a suspect’s conviction or acquittal rests on the proper collection of DNA evidence, regulations have been put into place, as a result of the ‘DNA wars’, to ensure the evidence is admissible. DNA profiling has been made famous through trials such as OJ Simpson versus Nicole Brown. Genetic fingerprinting has also begun to branch from the forensic field into discovering a person’s ancestry

DNA evidence usually makes people think of gruesome crime scenes, murder suspects and lengthy trials. But despite what you might learn from re-runs of CSI: Miami, DNA evidence isn’t only used to solve high profile crimes. Today, it is easier than ever to use DNA evidence to solve more common crimes like home robbery and car theft. But that doesn’t always mean it is the best way.

With over three million base pairs in the human gene, forensic scientists are able to distinguish a person’s genetic makeup.

DNA fingerprinting is a forensic technique used to identify individuals by features of their DNA. A DNA profile is a small set of DNA variations that is very likely to be different in all unrelated individuals, thereby being as unique to individuals as are fingerprints. First developed and used in 1984, DNA fingerprinting is used in, commonly, for parentage testing and criminal investigation. Its purpose is to identify a person or to place a person at a crime scene, methods that are employed globally in forensic science presently. Another aspect, which the technique for DNA fingerprinting helps, is being used in the establishment of animal and floral populations and has dramatically transformed the fields of zoology, botany, and agriculture.