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The inventor of DNA fingerprinting, Alec Jeffreys, has spoken out in defence of the National DNA Database saying that to avoid discrimination against certain individuals, every citizens genetic information, should be stored on the UK national register.
Speaking from the University of Leicester, Jeffreys went on to say, "If we're all on the database, we're all in exactly the same boat - the issue of discrimination disappears."
Currently, more than 1.5 million DNA profiles are being held in the police’s National DNA Database, with the target number being 3million by April 2004.
Jeffreys explained that the database should be run by an independent body and be limited to storing DNA information that only permits an identification of an individual. The original physical sample collected by police should be destroyed to avoid forensic scientists using DNA to discover a person’s ethnicity in cases when the police have no visual of a suspect in mind.
He also suggested that as a further precaution, the police should be required to obtain a court order before accessing the database to search for a particular individual. "The police should be able to prove that a sample from a crime scene matched a DNA profile on the database before being supplied with their identity."
Jeffreys revolutionised the field of forensic science when, in 1984, he accidentally invented DNA fingerprinting. His research was presented at the British Association Festival of Science in Leicester, and his technique is used today in criminal investigations and paternity suits.
Date: September 2002easyDNA provide answers to all your DNA testing questions. For more information, contact us on info@easydna.in
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