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The DNA minority report. - 3/25/2009 2:22:58 PM

FullCircle

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http://www.theengineer.co.uk/Articles/310605/DNA+profiler.htm

When I read this in the news I kind of wondered how far are we willing to go with this database before people start to protest, it seems we are sleepwalking into a legal catastrophe. As if simple DNA matching didn't have serious implications for miscarriages of justice now software written by the FSS creates random fictitious samples of DNA to compare mixed DNA samples to. i.e. The database isn't just comparing one set of information against another anymore, now it is trying to take mixed up or incomplete gene sequences and build complete sequences from this information to compare against the criminal database. (based on likely genes to follow in that sequence)

How far are we willing to push this burden of proof required? In my mind it is possible that if you are building random DNA profiles to compare mixed DNA samples to you are no longer finding an exact match but instead a match of someone likely to have similar gene sequences (the best fit not the exact match), how many people are likely to have similar gene sequences, would this system distinguish between members of the same family? What are these random profiles based on and if random how does that help compare the sample to the database sample? This is getting to the point where matching is being determined by the way the software works and this has been written by an authority largely on the side of the prosecutor in such cases. I don't know the exact workings of this software and I don't think a jury is going to understand the workings of it. If I can't understand it how can I find people guilty based on matches from it or am I just expected to say "I believe in the moral code of the FSS and their software is beyond reproach?" How likely is it that the software is using the existing database as the source model of how to create archetype DNA sequences for matching?

< Message edited by FullCircle -- 3/25/2009 2:29:58 PM >

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