DNA FINGERPRINTING AND THE LAW
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1988.tb01748.x |
| Published date | 01 March 1988 |
| Author | Robin M. White,Jeremy J. D. Greenwood |
| Date | 01 March 1988 |
THE
MODERN
LAW
REVIEW
Volume
51
MARCH
1988
No.
2
DNA FINGERPRINTING AND THE LAW
IN the last few years Dr.
A.
J.
Jeffreys’ of Leicester University,
with various colleagues, has invented a technique known as “DNA
fingerprinting.” It can give, to all intents and purposes, indisputably
accurate evidence of identity by means of a comparison of samples
of organic material taken from a person. It can also, by comparison
of samples from putative parents and offspring, give equally
indisputable evidence of parentage.
The implications of this for a legal system are clearly considerable.
However, they do not seem to have been discussed adequately in
any legal journal.2 This note sketches the nature of the DNA
fingerprinting proce~s,~ and, while mentioning various legal
applications, concentrates
on
those in immigration law and civil
liberties. The applications there entail major political consequences.
DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid) is the material that makes up the
genes. These are the units that are responsible for the resemblances
between parents and offspring and which, interacting with the
environment but remaining unaffected by it, determine the inherited
characteristics of each individual. About two-thirds of the genes
are the same in almost all individuals but the rest vary from person
to person. Since there are probably between ten thousand and one
hundred thousand genes in humans and about one-third are
variable, the number of possible combinations is inconceivably
large. That
is
why each
of
us, apart from identical twins, is
’
We
are grateful to Dr. Jeffreys for comments and encouragement on an earlier draft
of
the paper.
Some such implications have been discussed briefly by biochemists; see Dodd, B.E.
DNA Fingerprinting in Matters
of
Family and Crime: Nature
318,
504-507 (1985), and
P.
Gill, A. J. Jeffreys, and D. J. Werrett,
Forensic Application
of
DNA “Fingerprints” ibid
at pp. 577-579. In 1987 there appeared two brief articles in specialised legal journals,
i.e.
D.
Webb “The Use
of
Blood Grouping and DNA ‘Fingerprinting’ Tests in Immigration
Procedures” (1986)
1
INLP
53-61, and K.F. Kelly, JJ Rankin and R.C. Wink “Method
and Applications
of
DNA fingerprinting: a Guide
for
the Non-Scientist” [I9871 Crim.L.R.
105-110.
This sketch enormously but not, we hope misleadingly, simplifies. For the chief
technical literature, see A.
J.
Jeffreys, V. Wilson, and
S.
L. Thein,
Hypervariable
“minisatellite” Regions in Human DNA: Nature
314,
67-73 (1984); and
Individual Specific
“Fingerprints”
of
Human DNA ibid.,
316,
76-79, (1985)
A.
J. Jeffreys, J. F.
Y.
Brookfield, and
2.
Semeonoff,
Positive Identification
of
an Immigration Test Case Using
Human DNA Fingerprints,
317,
818-819 (1985); and the two articles referred to in n.2
above. These are all incomprehensible to those without a degree in a relevant field.
145
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