The Science Fiction of the DNA “Fingerprint”
Posted by Trevor Reid on August 18, 2009
From DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Scientists Show reported in The New York Times:
Scientists in Israel have demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence, undermining the credibility of what has been considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.
The scientists fabricated blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor of the blood and saliva. They also showed that if they had access to a DNA profile in a database, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person.
“You can just engineer a crime scene,” said Dan Frumkin, lead author of the paper, which has been published online by the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics. “Any biology undergraduate could perform this.”
Fingerprint matches, tool marks, bite marks and other forensic disciplines are likewise more suspect and before. Some are bunk while others are less scientifically rigorous than juries are lead to believe.