Familial DNA analysis and criminal investigation: Usage, downsides and privacy concerns.

Since the discovery of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) capability in forensic investigation, it has been an important part of the criminal justice system. In most criminal cases DNA profile originating from evidence sample collected from the crime scene is compared with the DNA profile from the reference sample. However, when a reference sample is not available for comparison, familial DNA analysis can provide important investigation leads in a criminal investigation process by identifying an individual. Moreover, this analysis is also proving effective in the identification of ethnicity and ancestry of an individual. A number of different methodologies and software are being used for familial DNA analysis. This review describes the importance of familial DNA analysis, methodologies used for familial DNA searching and identification, and its advantages in forensic. Moreover, ethical, legal and social issues associated with familial DNA analysis have also been discussed along with future directions for the proper implementation of this technology.

Pedigrees and Perpetrators: Uses of DNA and Genealogy in Forensic Investigations.

In the past few years, cases with DNA evidence that could not be solved with direct matches in DNA databases have benefited from comparing single-nucleotide polymorphism data with private and public genomic databases. Using a combination of genome comparisons and traditional genealogical research, investigators can triangulate distant relatives to the contributor of DNA data from a crime scene, ultimately identifying perpetrators of violent crimes. This approach has also been successful in identifying unknown deceased persons and perpetrators of lesser crimes. Such advances are bringing into focus ethical questions on how much access to DNA databases should be granted to law enforcement and how best to empower public genome contributors with control over their data. The necessary policies will take time to develop but can be informed by reflection on the familial searching policies developed for searches of the federal DNA database and considerations of the anonymity and privacy interests of civilians.

Forensic DNA phenotyping: Developing a model privacy impact assessment.

Forensic scientists around the world are adopting new technology platforms capable of efficiently analysing a larger proportion of the human genome. Undertaking this analysis could provide significant operational benefits, particularly in giving investigators more information about the donor of genetic material, a particularly useful investigative lead. Such information could include predicting externally visible characteristics such as eye and hair colour, as well as biogeographical ancestry. This article looks at the adoption of this new technology from a privacy perspective, using this to inform and critique the application of a Privacy Impact Assessment to this emerging technology. Noting the benefits and limitations, the article develops a number of themes that would influence a model Privacy Impact Assessment as a contextual framework for forensic laboratories and law enforcement agencies considering implementing forensic DNA phenotyping for operational use.

Social and ethical aspects of forensic genetics: A critical review.

This review describes the social and ethical responses to the history of innovations in forensic genetics and their application to criminal investigations. Following an outline of the three recurrent social perspectives that have informed these responses (crime management, due process, and genetic surveillance), it goes on to introduce the repertoire of ethical considerations by describing a series of key reports that have shaped subsequent commentaries on forensic DNA profiling and databasing. Four major ethical concerns form the focus of the remainder of the paper (dignity, privacy, justice, and social solidarity), and key features of forensic genetic practice are examined in the light of these concerns. The paper concludes with a discussion of the concept of "proportionality" as a resource for balancing the social and ethical risks and benefits of the use of forensic genetics in support of criminal justice.

DNA evidence: current perspective and future challenges in India.

Since the discovery of DNA fingerprinting technology in 1985 it has been used extensively as evidence in the court of law world-wide to establish the individual identity both in civil and criminal matters. In India, the first case of parentage dispute solved by the use of DNA fingerprinting technology was in 1989. Since then till date, the DNA technology has been used not only to resolve the cases of paternity and maternity disputes, but also for the establishment of individual identity in various criminal cases and for wildlife forensic identification. Since last half a decade, India is exercising to enact legislation on the use of DNA in the judicial realm and the draft 'Human DNA Bill-2012' is pending in the parliament. Largely, the promoters of forensic DNA testing have anticipated that DNA tests are nearly infallible and DNA technology could be the greatest single advance step in search for truth, conviction of the perpetrator, and acquittal of the innocent. The current article provides a comprehensive review on the status of DNA testing in India and elucidates the consequences of the admissibility of DNA as 'evidence' in the judicial dominion. In this backdrop of civil and criminal laws and changing ethical and societal attitudes, it is concluded that the DNA legislation in India and world-wide needs to be designed with utmost care.

Hallazgo inesperado en el consejo genético / Unexpected finding in genetic advice

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Aspectos bioéticos y jurídicos en los usos del ADN con fines identificadores: el caso de las pruebas genéticas de filiación / Bioethical and legal aspects in the use of DNA for identification: the case of parentage genetic testing

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Ethical issues in DNA identification of human biological material from mass disasters.

Each mass disaster has its own characteristics and will involve a different approach, so the safeguarding and collection of forensic evidence have to be considered as part of the field response procedure. DNA typing has played a more prominent role in the identification of human remains, and particularly so for highly decomposed and fragmented remains. Although the ultimate goal is to obtain the identification, the specific context of each application of human identity testing has its specific problems, ranging from technical approach, through statistical interpretation, to ethical issues. The preparedness plan of the forensic genetics laboratory needs to include policies for family notification, long-term sample storage, and data archiving. For this reason, DNA sample collection and a strategy for DNA-based victim identification needs to be part of the preparedness plan. In this paper, the authors seek to define three of these ethical aspects: (1) the humanitarian importance of identification; (2) resource allocation in the victims' DNA identification; and (3) the secondary use for research of the samples initially collected for identification purposes. DNA analysis for the purpose of identifying victims of mass disasters has complex implications that demand much more rigorous examination than they have received until now.

DNA profiles, computer searches, and the Fourth Amendment.

Pursuant to federal statutes and to laws in all fifty states, the United States government has assembled a database containing the DNA profiles of over eleven million citizens. Without judicial authorization, the government searches each of these profiles one-hundred thousand times every day, seeking to link database subjects to crimes they are not suspected of committing. Yet, courts and scholars that have addressed DNA databasing have focused their attention almost exclusively on the constitutionality of the government's seizure of the biological samples from which the profiles are generated. This Note fills a gap in the scholarship by examining the Fourth Amendment problems that arise when the government searches its vast DNA database. This Note argues that each attempt to match two DNA profiles constitutes a Fourth Amendment search because each attempted match infringes upon database subjects' expectations of privacy in their biological relationships and physical movements. The Note further argues that database searches are unreasonable as they are currently conducted, and it suggests an adaptation of computer-search procedures to remedy the constitutional deficiency.

Extracting, storing and distributing DNA for a birth cohort study.

Issues surrounding DNA extraction from biological samples are discussed, together with details of storage and distribution methods. The benefits of laying down immortalised cell lines are described.