The History of DNA Testing

DNA Testing Choice LogoIf you watch the American Crime Series Drama ‘CSI’ you will be aware that DNA testing is a fundamental tool used in solving crime today. However, it was nearly two decades previous to the crime drama that DNA testing was first used in a US court to convict Tommy Lee Andrews of rape in 1987, matching his DNA from a blood sample with that of semen traces found on the rape victim.

Since the introduction of DNA testing in 1985, biological matter i.e. hair, skin, blood and other bodily fluids have arisen as the most reliable physical evidence at a crime scene, particularly for violent or sexual assaults. DNA testing is used to determine distinctive patterns in the genetic evidence from a crime scene with the DNA of a potential perpetrator with a degree of 99% accuracy.

Following the success of DNA testing, law enforcement agencies around the world are amassing DNA databases, finding matches that investigators would have almost certainly have missed. The FBI now has millions of DNA records for convicted offenders and sex offenders that are required to submit DNA samples to law enforcement.

However, there has not always been such trust in the reliability of DNA testing, for example the O.J. Simpson trial in 1995 when Simpson was acquitted, partly due to the doubts about the reliability of the evidence based on blood found at the murder scene. But professionals say that doubts have eased as scientific advances have greatly improved and the public have become more familiar with the practice through TV and Movies.

DNA testing has not only proved extremely reliable in convicting criminals but in exonerating the innocent. More than 240 convictions have been overturned in 33 states and people have even been released from death row after DNA evidence had cleared them.

Over the past couple of years, geneticists and scientists have uncovered greater accuracy in DNA testing and testing laboratories have realised a fall in production thus relaying a greater price competition in what is becoming a rapidly growing market. This has led to DNA testing being used as a leading method to determine paternity (especially for daytime TV fans on shows such as Jeremy Kyle). DNA evidence has also been influential in identifying human remains and authorities have established a massive genetic database following the World Trade Center tragedy – using DNA testing to give closure to the relatives of the victims. Underlining DNA testing as an strong force for good.

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