Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
1
Introduction to forensic
genetics
The development and application of genetics has revolutionized forensic science. In
1984, the analysis of polymorphic regions of DNA produced what was termed 'a
DNA fingerprint' [1]. The following year, at the request of the United Kingdom
Home Office, DNA profiling was successfully applied to casework when it was used
to resolve an immigration dispute [2]. In 1986, DNA evidence was used for the first
time in a criminal case involving the murder of two young women in Leicestershire,
UK: DNA analysis exonerated one individual who had confessed to one of the
murders, and following a mass screen of approximately 5000 individuals, identified
Colin Pitchfork as the murderer. He was convicted in January 1988 [3].
1
Following on from early success in both civil and criminal cases, the use of
genetics was rapidly adopted by the forensic community and now plays an important
role worldwide in both the investigation of crime and in relationship testing. The
scope and scale of DNA analysis in forensic science is set to continue expanding for
the foreseeable future.
Forensic genetics
The work of the forensic geneticist will vary widely depending on the laboratory
and country that they work in, and can involve the analysis of material recovered
from a scene of crime, kinship testing and the identification of human remains.
In some cases, it can even be used for the analysis of DNA from plants [6 - 18];
animals [19 - 36] including insects [37 - 60]; and microorganisms [61 - 67]. The focus
of this topic is the analysis of biological material that is recovered from the scene
of crime - this is central to the work of most forensic laboratories. Kinship testing
will be dealt with separately in Chapter 11 and a brief introduction is given to the
testing of non-human material in Chapter 14.
Forensic laboratories receive material that has been recovered from scenes of
crime, and reference samples from both suspects and victims. The role of forensic
genetics within the investigative process is to compare samples recovered from crime
1
Note: The first convictions in criminal cases came in 1987, when DNA evidence played an important role in the conviction
of two rapists: Robert Melias in the UK and Tommy Lee Andrews in the USA [4, 5].
