dna matches
DNA evidence may not be all it's cracked up to be
There's now a war for hearts and minds over what level of improbability it is that two DNA samples can "match." The FBI lab allows numbers like "1 in 113 billion" and "1 in 108 trillion" to be used, but an Arizona researcher, looking at the question in a slightly different way, says that matches are certainly much, much more likely than that (and thus, "matches" in criminal cases should not automatically convict, as they seem to do now). Other researchers are intrigued and want to further study the FBI database. The FBI responds in the way it usually does when anyone questions it: Move along; nothing to see here; shut up. Los Angeles Times
There's now a war for hearts and minds over what level of improbability it is that two DNA samples can "match." The FBI lab allows numbers like "1 in 113 billion" and "1 in 108 trillion" to be used, but an Arizona researcher, looking at the question in a slightly different way, says that matches are certainly much, much more likely than that (and thus, "matches" in criminal cases should not automatically convict, as they seem to do now). Other researchers are intrigued and want to further study the FBI database. The FBI responds in the way it usually does when anyone questions it: Move along; nothing to see here; shut up. Los Angeles Times
Comments
Whatever costs the most money and employs the most people.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 07/22/08 at 12:12 AM
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Category: Crime | Government | Science