The Implications of DNA Profiling Essay

Analyze: A group of three consecutive nitrogenous bases in a strand of DNA is a codon. In a real organism, hundreds of codons code for a trait. In the Gizmo, a single codon codes for a trait. Scan frog A and the two frogs that share only frog A’s skin color.

From cases such as OJ Simpson to Chandra Levy, DNA profiling also called DNA fingerprinting or DNA typing has played a major role in the criminal justice system. The law enforcement community uses DNA profiling to rule out or identify suspects. Unlike hair microscopy, bite mark comparisons, shoe print comparisons, and firearm tool mark analysis, DNA typing has been developed through massive scientific research and has undergone meticulous scientific evaluation (Innocence Project). DNA is a foolproof method of identifying a perpetrator of a crime.

DNA testing has overthrown the way police collect evidence in a number of criminal cases, especially rape and murder and consequently had a large impact on many past cases. However there are many disadvantages to DNA testing, such as a challenge of accuracy, the costs of DNA testing and the possible misuse of DNA. The prospect of a national DNA database in Australia has been heavily criticised with complaints of invasion of privacy and stigma against those with terminal diseases.

This paper explores the history and some interesting facts about DNA. The last couple centuries have seen an exponential growth in our knowledge of DNA. The history of the DNA can be traced back to multiple devoted scientist. This article attempts to summarize, and review the basic history of DNA while providing some fascinating information about it.

Behavioural privacy also plays a significant role in genetic profiling, as it is a technology which is frequently being enhanced, requiring constant review and law reform, ensuring that justice will be present, both presently and in the future, to protect the rights of each individual. Behavioural privacy refers to the use of genetic profiling predicting the past in an inadequate, unjust manner, as to restrict the confidentiality of individuals. Issues on genetic profiling, specifically behavioural privacy have arisen and been expressed in an article titled ‘Call to control police use of DNA’, as Associate Professor Jeremy Gans, of Melbourne Law School says ''Australian legislation leaves rape victims, just like their rapists, exposed to investigation aimed at determining their connection with any unsolved crime on a jurisdiction's DNA database''. This is present, as the Crimes Act 1914, division 7A section 23XX, part two, which states that inadmissibility of evidence from improper forensic procedures etc., does not apply where “(a) a provision of this Part required forensic material to be destroyed; and

Due to the uniqueness of DNA it has become a powerful tool in criminal investigations

With the number of DNA exonerations growing in the recent years, wrongful convictions reveal disturbing trends and fissures in the justice system. It shows how broken the system is, and why it needs urgent fixing. According to Huff (1996), over ten thousand people are convicted wrongfully for serious crimes each year. This study established that factors leading to wrongful convictions are false eyewitnesses, a prejudiced jury, incompetent prosecutors, and suspects’ ignorance. Where DNA evidence clears a suspect, array of reasons emerge; misconduct, mistakes, to race and class factors. It is important to make DNA data available to attorneys in order to enable them mount a strong

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

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 profiling is a standard tool used to help with criminal investigations. This is impactful in the field of forensics to determine and identify suspects of murder. For example, almost 50 years after the crime, DNA provided evidence in the murder of Mary Sullivan by taking a sample from the nephew of the suspect in her murder. As such, it was clear the Boston Strangler was Albert DeSalvo. (Philip Bulman, February, 2014) DNA profiling is also imperative in identifying murder victims such as Kerry Graham and Francine Trimble, who became missing in December, 1978. Due to advanced knowledge in forensic science, a DNA match identified the victims in December, 2015. (Linda Williams, 2016) DNA profiling is conducted first by obtaining a DNA sample from a crime scene, suspect, victim or other evidence. The next step is to amplify sequences to make the DNA sample larger. Finally, gel electrophoresis is used to compare regions of the amplified DNA to determine which samples are from the same individual and which are unique. There are several profiling techniques such as polymerase chain reaction which targets and quickly copies segments of DNA from even minute amounts of blood or tissue. Another profiling method is short tandem report analysis which repeats short sequences of DNA to determine exact matches between relatives and unrelated individuals. As referenced above, gel electrophoresis compares fragments of DNA by separating from different sources. Lastly, there is RELP analysis

Criminologists, usually Forensic scientists, collect DNA sources of semen, saliva, hair follicle, body cells, skin, and blood. They must always wear gloves, mask, and use disposable instruments. This help prevents the DNA being contaminated, to where it would not be useable. The collected samples must be bagged and label in envelopes but not plastic bags! Plastic Bags retain moisture that will damage DNA, another reason why DNA must be protected and label is that direst sunlight and weather condition may damage DNA.

Forensic laboratories use lengths of fragments from several locations of human DNA to decide whether a sample recovered from a suspect’s clothing is the victim’s. DNA was

The Positive And Negative Effects of DNA Profiling Justin Broyles Apr. 12, 1995 Justice Theory Lance Miller Genetic engineering has developed and blossomed at a frightening rate in the last decade. Originating as merely an area of interest for scientists, genetic engineering has now become an area of which all people should be somewhat knowledgeable.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the hereditary material in humans. It is contained in the nucleus of nearly every cell in the human body and is unique to all individuals except in cases of identical twins. Thus, DNA can be used to identify suspects in forensic casework. DNA can be left behind at forensic crime scenes in a variety of ways. Common sources of human DNA at crime scenes include: saliva, blood, semen, skin, and hair follicles. Saliva samples can provide high-quality and high-quantity DNA, but they do have some special issues associated with them (Nemoda, et al., 2011). Saliva samples contain many different substances that could actively degrade the sample. For example, saliva naturally contains microbes that could contaminate the sample, making it seem like there is more suspect DNA present than there actually is (Nemoda, et al., 2011). Also, saliva fluids originate from multiple glands that secrete at different rates in different people, so some samples may contain less DNA than others (Nemoda, et al., 2011). The DNA evidence acquired at crime scenes is analyzed using Forensic DNA Profiling.

DNA is one thing that every person has and makes everybody unique from one another. One controversial question that people ask these days are that if criminals should be forced to submit a DNA sample to be used in a database of DNA used by police to help with apprehending criminals. This topic is considered to be a controversial topic because many people believe that it has a lot of positive and negative outcomes. I had chosen this topic because I feel that it is an important thing that needs to be decided on the best solution since it could help out immensely. DNA evidence has been used since 1986 to help solve crimes and has been helpful in convicting criminals or helping wrongfully convicted criminals. This topic is very important since it will change the future of apprehending criminals. There are normally strong supporters and opposers to each topic which each have their own claims.