The other day I was watching the news and saw a report about a man who was recently released from jail on the foundation that new DNA evidence proved that he had not committed the rape and murder he had been accused and convicted of. The man was overwhelmed and happy to be out of jail…he’d been locked up for 19 years! Due to the DNA results that could only be analyzed in this day and age, he was finally free. Now he is able to pick up his life that has been put on hold for nearly two decades. He was convicted of the crime based on a rudimentary blood test that had shown that the blood from the crime scene matched his blood type. However, it also matched the blood type of about a third of the population of the United States. The process of collecting DNA samples and analyzing results is revolutionized the criminal justice system. Using DNA evidence is like having an extra witness at the crime scene—a witness that never lies.
Your DNA is like a personal identification card permanently incorporated in your body. Everyone, except identical twins, has unique DNA. Since (with aforesaid exception) no two people in the entire world have the same genetic makeup, it is the perfect way to convict criminals of a crime. However, everyone’s DNA does not differ in obvious ways. Like a fingerprint, there are minute details that make the difference. Gaps in the sequence codes and tiny, sometimes barely noticeable variations can make all the difference.
Once a match is made, this type of evidence plays a powerful role in the criminal justice system. Solid DNA evidence is irrefutable and convincing to any jury. To make a DNA match, two elements are required. First, the small sample must be studied and used to create a complete profile of the person’s DNA. Secondly, the profile generated from the sample must be mathematically proven to be a match to the individual who is accused of committing the crime. This is done by examining the genes. Genes are found in the chromosomes that guide the protein production process. However, this is not what is primarily used in DNA identification. To classify and expose DNA evidence, geneticists use a special type of polymorphism that is contained in the regions of DNA that are not specific to coding.
This type of evidence can be used for many other things other than in criminal cases like murder, rape or assault. It can be used to determine the paternity of a child. If a mother is unsure who fathered her baby, a quick check swab from the baby and the potential father can collect a DNA sample that can be used to identify the biological father of the child. Doctors even have ways of testing the paternity of a baby before it is born. DNA can also be used to test maternity. If a child was adopted and had no knowledge of her birth mother, she could use a private investigator to locate a potential biological parent, mother or father, and then use DNA to verify the claim.
By Stacy Hinojosa