Other Uses of DNA

So all of our class discussions on DNA got me thinking about the different uses of DNA in our modern day society. The most prominent situation that comes to mind are cases in the justice system in which DNA is used to exonerate crimes of the past. Organizations such as the Innocence Project work to overturn wrongful convictions that were made without DNA evidence. According to the website, its mission is “to free the staggering number of innocent people who remain incarcerated, and to bring reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment.”

Not only has DNA become important in overturning wrongful convictions, but if we think about how the justice system is now, DNA has also become an important part of establishing guilt.

However, I found this article (link: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/a-reasonable-doubt/480747/) called “The False Promise of DNA Testing,” which outlines how forensic technique is becoming very common yet is an unreliable source of evidence. For its main example, the article talks about how the Houston Police Department Crime Laboratory technicians have been misinterpreting many of the samples, leading to several false convictions.

These contradicting uses of DNA within the context of the U.S. justice system brings up questions of what the uses of DNA should be and how that should be regulated.