The transition from basic science to useful technology is so unpredictable. Look, for example, at DNA. Ten years ago, everybody assumed that the payoff of the genetic revolution would arrive in the form of gene therapy. We'd cure disease by tinkering with our genome. Well, that didn't work out so well. Who could have guessed that one of the most important contributions of the genetic revolution would be the use of DNA in the criminal justice system? We know so little about what our new knowledge will do.
State lawmakers across the country are adopting broad changes to criminal justice procedures as a response to the exoneration of more than 200 convicts through the use of DNA evidence.All but eight states now give inmates varying degrees of access to DNA evidence that might not have been available at the time of their convictions. Many states are also overhauling the way witnesses identify suspects, crime labs handle evidence and informants are used.
Technology
Comments (1)
That's exactly how it will be used.
While DNA evidence is being used in the circumstances you cite to exonerate those who were wrongfully accused, it is infinitely more likely that law enforcement wants to collect a massive database of DNA to identify criminals from ephemeral evidence they leave at a crime scene. Did you have your fingerprints taken by police who visited the classroom when you were in grade school? I did. Those prints are in the FBI database now, even though I have never been accused of a crime.
It is clear that law enforcement officials plan to create an even more comprehensive database with DNA.
Posted by: tekel | October 3, 2007 3:51 PM