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Don't Blindly Trust DNA Testing

26.01.2016

It seems to people who are far from science, for example, judges, that genetic examination is the ultimate truth, which finally convicts a person of a crime. It turns out that thanks to scientific progress, this is not at all the case. The problem arose due to the fact that if earlier such an analysis required quite a lot of genetic material, now it is possible to establish the identity of a person literally by several cells. And we must prove that these cells were not accidentally included in the sample.

To demonstrate the scale of the problem, forensic researchers at Indiana University, led by Associate Professor Krista Latham, staged such an experiment. Two people shook hands for two minutes, after which they were each given a knife to hold. They took samples of genetic material from the knives, and it turned out that in every fifth case this material belonged only to the participant who did not hold the knife in his hand! And in 85% of the cases, his DNA was found on this experimental murder weapon, along with the DNA of the second participant. Obviously, in a real case, it would be very difficult for a judge to draw the right conclusion based on the results of the almighty method of DNA fingerprinting.

Meanwhile, such judicial errors have already become the property of journalists. So, in California in 2013, a man was held behind bars for several months on charges of murder, until it turned out that his DNA was brought to the crime scene by doctors who visited both him and the victim that day.

“If only one person’s DNA is present on the sample, we say that the probability of a coincidence is vanishingly small. When I, as an expert, report this to the judge, he has a very definite opinion. But it really can be an accident. Our duty is to educate the judges and jurors, telling them that genetic methods are not a magic bullet, they require interpretation, like the rest of the evidence of the guilt of the accused. It is wrong to base the prosecution only on the basis of genetic analysis," says Krista Latham.

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