DNA DATABASES:

Q.1: What are the benefits of DNA database?

A.1:

• Identify potential suspects whose DNA may match evidence left at crime scenes .
• Exonerate persons wrongly accused of crimes .
• Identify crime and catastrophe victims .
• Establish paternity and other family relationships .
• Identify endangered and protected species as an aid to wildlife officials (could be used for prosecuting poachers) .
• Detect bacteria and other organisms that may pollute air, water, soil, and food .
• Match organ donors with recipients in transplant programs .
• Determine pedigree for seed or livestock breeds .
• Authenticate consumables such as caviar and wine .

Q.2: what problems do DNA database?

A.2:

• Arrestees often are found innocent of crimes. The retention of innocent people's DNA raises significant ethical and social issues.
• If people’s DNA is in police databases, they might be identified as matches or partial matches to DNA found at crime scenes. This occurs even with innocent people, for instance, if an individual had been at a crime scene earlier or had a similar DNA profile to the actual criminal.
• Sensitive genetic information, such as family relationships and disease susceptibility, can be obtained from DNA samples. Police, forensic science services, and researchers using the database have access to people’s DNA without their consent. This can be seen as an intrusion of personal privacy and a violation of civil liberties.
• Studies of the United Kingdom’s criminal database, which retains the DNA samples of all suspects, show that ethnic minorities are over represented in the population of arrestees and are, therefore, overrepresented in the criminal DNA database. This raises the concern of an institutionalized ethnic bias in the criminal justice system.
• Even the most secure database has a chance of being compromised.

Q.3. who should be included in a national DNA database? should it be limited to convicted felons? Explain your answer.

A.3:DNA database to include juveniles or people who are not convicted criminals.

most people aren't violent criminals, including those who commit misdemeanors, and their inclusion in a national DNA database exposes them to risks they would not otherwise face.