Genetics and Forensics (original) (raw)

Genetics and Forensics: Making the National DNA Database

Science studies (Helsinki, Finland)

This paper is based on a current study of the growing police use of the epistemic authority of molecular biology for the identification of criminal suspects in support of crime investigation. It discusses the development of DNA profiling and the establishment and development of the UK National DNA Database (NDNAD) as an instance of the 'scientification of police work' (Ericson and Shearing 1986) in which the police uses of science and technology have a recursive effect on their future development. The NDNAD, owned by the Association of Chief Police Officers of England and Wales, is the first of its kind in the world and currently contains the genetic profiles of more than 2 million people. The paper provides a framework for the examination of this sociotechnical innovation, begins to tease out the dense and compact history of the database and accounts for the way in which changes and developments across disparate scientific, governmental and policing contexts, have all contributed to the range of uses to which it is put.

Inclusiveness, Effectiveness and Intrusiveness: Issues in the Developing Uses of DNA Profiling in Support of Criminal Investigations

The Journal of Law, Medicine <html_ent glyph="@amp;" ascii="&"/> Ethics, 2006

Robin wdfiams, B.&.!hc., is senior Lecturer in sociology at the University of Durham. Previously at the University of Southampton and Manchestw, he has recently published a series of papers on police uses of forensic science in general and of DNA projiling and databasing in particular. Hawing recently completed a study of the U K N a t i m l DNA Database he is currently researchingpohie uses ofDNA in the 25states of the European Union and kfinded for this by the Wellcome Fmst. Pad Johnson, Ph.D., is Research Fellow in Sociology at the University of Durham. He has published in the area ofpolice uses of DNA projiling and undertaken research on the formation, implementation and expansion of the U K N a t i d DNADatabase. He is currently worlcing on a comparative study offorensic DNA databasing and datasharing in the European Union.

DNA evidence and police investigations: a health warning

2006

Much has been made of recent advances in DNA science and technology with particular emphasis placed on its bewildering implications for policing and the detection of serious offenders. Operation Phoenix for example, conducted by Northumbria Police in conjunction with the Forensic Science Service (FSS), has seen a total of 42 named DNA matches obtained against the National DNA Database (NDNAD)

Law, Practice and Politics of forensic DNA profiling. Forensic genetics and their technolegal worlds

Law, Practice and Politics of Forensic DNA Profiling: Forensic Genetics and their Technolegal Worlds, 2023

This collection reviews developments in DNA profiling across jurisdictions with a focus on scientific and technological advancement as well as the political and socio-legal impact. Written by leading scholars in the fields of Social Studies of Forensic Science, Science and Technology Studies and Socio-Legal Studies the book provides state-of-the-art analyses of forensic DNA practices in a diverse range of jurisdictions, new and emerging forensic genetics technologies, and issues of legitimacy.