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July 25, 2008 12:21:33 PM CDT

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DNA Used to Nab Criminal Kin

Posted Apr 21, 08 12:51 PM CDT in US,  Crime & Courts,  Technology 

(Newser) – Law-enforcement agencies are using DNA of family members—often without their consent—to identify and convict criminals, the Washington Post reports. Privacy advocates object that it turns family members into unwitting informants, and subjects innocent relatives to “lifelong genetic surveillance” because someone in their family committed a crime. But investigators say it could increase DNA-solved cases by as much as 40%.

Reaction differs. While a Wichita woman "had no problem" with the use of her pap smear test to convict her father of the brutal “Bind, Torture, Kill” serial murders, a Louisiana woman felt “betrayed” when her DNA, collected after she reported a rape, was used to convict her brother in a string of unrelated rapes.

Source Washington Post

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DNA testing of relatives can help law enforcement identify criminals   (Getty Images)
Genetic testing lab   (Index Open)
DNA Double Helix   (Getty Images)
An inmate swabs the inside of his mouth so a sample of his DNA can be logged in a data base in Virginia.   (KRT Photos)
DNA Database searches extended to relatives can nab criminals   (Index Open)
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murder  • crime  • FBI  • DNA  • genetics  • Massachusetts  • Colorado  • DNA evidence  • law enforcement  • criminal justice  • DNA database


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