NCJ Number
136224
Journal
Medico-Legal Bulletin Volume: 37 Issue: 6 Dated: (November-December 1988) Pages: 1-10
Date Published
1988
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The application of DNA analysis to forensic investigations is discussed including a detailed description of the DNA profiling process and its advantages and disadvantages.
Abstract
DNA analysis offers the potential of identification or exclusion of a suspect with great specificity, especially in cases in which the only evidence recovered is biological tissues or fluids such as skin, bone, seminal fluid, or blood. In contrast to the more common methods of protein typing which classify a suspect within a certain percentile of the population, this method identifies a body fluid or tissue as coming from a specific donor to the exclusion of all other individuals except in cases of identical twins. The method, similar to other gene-probing or restriction fragment length polymorphism techniques, includes recovery of biological evidence, digestion, electrophoresis, denaturization and transfer, hybridization, and comparison of probe-bound fragments with reference standards of DNA fragments. The chance of two unrelated individuals having the same DNA profile may be as high as 1 in 80,000,000,000 with the chances of sibling having the same pattern somewhat lower. Methodology and admissibility of DNA evidence in the Florida appellate court is discussed as well as Virginia cases in which the result of the DNA analysis linked an individual with a homicide that occurred in two jurisdictions. 11 references