Bridging Disciplines to Form a New One: The Emergence of Forensic Genetic Genealogy (original) (raw)
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Four misconceptions about investigative genetic genealogy
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Since its discovery, DNA analysis has been an important tool in criminal investigations: the creation of national DNA databases, retaining the genetic profile of criminals, revealed to be crucial in solving serious crimes. In recent years, the expansive use of DNA analysis, together with scientific and technological progress, led to the development of new sophisticated investigative techniques, from the so-called “familial searching” to the more recent use of “forensic genetic genealogy”, based on the exploitation of commercial genealogy databases by law enforcement authorities. Notwithstanding their effectiveness, these new instruments raise serious ethical and legal concerns: this paper aims at presenting these complex challenges, by underlying the need to strike a proper balance between the public interest to a rapid and efficient identification of unknown offenders and the dangerous shift towards “genetic surveillance”.
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Law enforcement is moving from targeted forensic DNA analysis to more extensive use of genomics in support of criminal investigations and for related purposes, such as the identification of human remains. The field of forensic genomics is data-driven and will continue to evolve as new capabilities are developed and new datasets are made accessible. Intelligence capabilities using forensic genomics include the prediction of externally visible characteristics and biogeographical ancestry, and the relatively new field of forensic genetic genealogy. This technique expands these capabilities by accessing public genetic datasets to identify potential relatives of the donor of DNA relating to an investigation. This exploitation of public datasets poses a range of ethical, legal and privacy challenges. The extended reach of these techniques expands these issues to entire families, across multiple jurisdictions. These legal challenges increase as attention turns to much larger, but less accessible, genetic data held by direct-to-consumer genetic genealogy providers.
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In the criminal justice system, not all offenders are brought to justice; unfortunately, cold cases exist and provide long-term challenges to investigators. From historic breakthroughs in forensic DNA analysis to today's new trends, advancements in technology continue to give investigators hope of resolving unsolved mysteries with no clear-cut suspect. This article examines the progression of DNA analysis over the past three decades and explores the recent trends in the use of genealogy websites to solve cold cases. DNA technology's innovative uses, from its early years to modern, are explored herein. By exploring traditional DNA analysis to advances that explore the potential for family-relationship connections in genealogy databases, one can observe the path that has led to the use of familial DNA analysis from these ever-popular ancestry databases used by civilians for lineage research. In examining the recent exploratory use of ancestry DNA databases for criminal-investigation purposes, the clear promise and pitfalls of such new technology are outlined for consideration. KEY WORDS DNA Analysis; Familial DNA; Ancestry; Genealogy A HISTORY OF MAJOR ADVANCES IN DNA ANALYSIS Between the late 1970s and the mid-1980s, the Golden State Killer taunted the state of California by terrorizing his victims. While the people of California lived in fear, the Golden State Killer continued his spree of crimes. The belief is that the killer committed
Progress in Forensic Genetics: New Markers Validation Studies and Population Data
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OBJETIVOS 6 en el Área mediterránea de 15 STRs autosómicosl bien establecidos juntos con los 5 nuevos marcadores EES, el sumamente discriminante SE33 y algún STRs de los chromosomes sexuales comúnemente usados en la investigación forense. Finalmente pretendemos evaluar la variabilidad de la 52 SNPplex recientemente introducida para usos forenses. the chromosomes, are up to 100,000 paired genes, the fundamental units of heredity. Each gene can have different versions (as many as 100 or more in rare cases) called alleles, but most are the same from person to person. Genes determine all inherited traits including those that give the individual specific characteristics (blue eyes rather than brown eyes) as well as common characteristics (two eyes, two arms, etc.). This turned out to be a specifically important identification for without it, British Authorities believe that Richard Buckland, the main suspect, would have inevitably been convicted. Therefore, not only did Jeffrey's work in this case prove who the real killer was, but exonerate someone who likely would have spent his life in prison otherwise. This procedure was also used to help in some English immigration cases.[6] Unfortunately this method, while powerful in its ability to differentiate individuals, was limited by the quantity and quality of DNA required for an unambiguous result because it required a large amounts of un-degraded sample DNA and in addition it was laborious for the amount of time it took to obtain a result. 2. How DNA typing works : statistical evaluations 2.1 Criminal Caseworks DNA forensic scientists are presented with the situation were they are given two samples related to a crime scene, about which they know nothing in advance, and are asked whether or not they are identical. Only one-tenth of a single percent of DNA (about 3 million bases) differs from one person to the next. These variable regions are used to generate a DNA profile of an individual, using samples from blood, bone, hair, and other body tissues and products. In criminal cases,this generally involves obtaining Combining the RMNE statistics over all loci gives the combined RMNE (CRMNE) which is equivalent to the CPI. The value of the CRMNE is typically small (less than one), and is analogous to 1-CRMNE or exclusionary power (PE). PE represents the probability of excluding a falsely accused man. • Link two or more unsolved cases. Linking unsolved cases can help an investigator look for similarities in the crimes, define geographical areas, compare victim hits assisting in more than 155,100 investigations.