forensic genetics
dgmacarthur | October 6, 2009
Last week I noted a highly controversial plan by the UK Border Agency to begin using DNA and isotope testing to help determine the geographical origins of refugees, for use in making decisions about whether or not to grant asylum.
A reader has just pointed me to this recent post on ScienceInsider indicating an apparent change in policy: the Border Agency has now stated that the trial will be "proof of concept" only, and that "no decisions on individual cases will be made using these techniques, and they will not be used for evidential purposes". As ScienceInsider notes, this represents a…
dgmacarthur | September 29, 2009ScienceInsider reports that plans by the UK Border Agency to employ DNA and isotope testing to test the origins of asylum seekers are being met with outrage by scientists and refugee advocates.
There's not much information about the precise tests that will be employed, but what information has been made available has horrified a number of scientists including the University of Leicester's Alec Jeffreys:
After reviewing the Border Agency's plans, Jeffreys echoed those criticisms in an e-mail to Science: "The Borders Agency is clearly making huge and unwarranted assumptions about population…