The Need for Caution in the Use of DNA Evidence to Avoid Convicting the Innocent
| Published date | 01 July 2011 |
| Date | 01 July 2011 |
| DOI | 10.1350/ijep.2011.15.3.380 |
| Subject Matter | Current Issue |
CURRENT ISSUE
NEED FOR CAUTION IN THE USE OF DNA EVIDENCE TO AVOID CONVICTING THE INNOCENT
CURRENT ISSUE
The need for caution in the use of
DNA evidence to avoid convicting the
innocent
By Michael Naughton*and
Senior Lecturer, School of Law and School of Sociology, Politics and
International Studies (SPAIS), University of Bristol
Gabe Tan**
Research Assistant, School of Law, University of Bristol
Keywords DNA evidence; Low Copy Number; Partial DNA profiles; Mixed DNA
profiles
eoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) profiles are obtained in forensic analyses by
the identification of variations (known as alleles) within specific regions
known as ‘loci’ (s.locus) within the human genome, which are then
added to, or checked against profiles already on, the National DNA Database
(NDNAD).1In the early years of the establishment of the NDNAD, a DNA profiling
system known as Second Generation Multiplex (SGM) was used which measured
six different Short Tandem Repeat (STR) loci to yield a DNA profile. This method of
doi:10.1350/ijep.2011.15.3.380
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVIDENCE & PROOF (2011) 15 E&P 245–257 245
D
1 Human Genome Project Information ‘DNA Forensics’ (2009), available at <http://www.ornl.gov/
sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/forensics.shtml>, accessed 4 May 2011.
* Email: M.Naughton@bristol.ac.uk.
** Email: Gabe.Tan@bristol.ac.uk. This article is an outgrowth of a paper that we presented at the
Human Rights and Forensic Science Conference, co-hosted by the Irish Centre for Human Rights
and the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, National University of Ireland, Galway,
24–25 April 2009. We are grateful for the feedback that we received at the session. We would also
like to thank Allan Jamieson, Jenny McEwan and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful
feedback too.
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