The Blurry Lines And Laws Of Dna Fingerprinting - 1598 Words

The Blurry Lines and Laws of DNA Fingerprinting Crime solving has come a long way since the P.I days, and with the extreme advances in biology and the sciences, forensics has integrated itself into criminology with a fervor. Starting around the 1980’s Scientist Sir Alec Jeffreys and his team first derived the process of DNA fingerprinting and realized the incredible tool they had at their disposal for anything from paternity testing to DNA evidence comparison at crime scenes. After Jeffreys’ DNA fingerprinting was used to put away a dangerous criminal with matched evidence, the process evolved using the technology of Poly Chain Reaction (PCR) and Gel Electrophoresis (The history of genetic fingerprinting). With this relatively easy system of DNA fingerprinting and the very small amount of easily collected DNA that can be used to develop a fingerprint, criminal convictions using DNA evidence and fingerprinting has become an integral part of crime scene investigations. An d it was with this increase in dependence upon DNA to solve crimes that the government began to institute more laws surrounding the collection of DNA from individuals facing arrest, convicted or otherwise. While DNA exoneration has come a long way in terms of technological advancements and uses, there is questionability as to what the government is utilizing in requiring mandatory DNA sampling and the further implications upon human rights as DNA becomes a staple of most criminal conviction cases. One of the