Re:In Search for Killer, DNA Sweep Exposes Intimate Family S...
by rangibaby on Monday July 28, 2014 @02:51AM
(#8095504)
> Sometimes I comb my hair, or bite my fingernails. What if part of it fell on the floor and some random person steps on it. Stuck on the bottom of their shoe. A bunch of coincidental stuff comes up and my DNA is tested against a fingernail/hair under victim's shoe... match. I'm doomed.
This is a plot point in the film Gattaca. I'd recommend watching it if you haven't already:
Re:In Search for Killer, DNA Sweep Exposes Intimate Family S...
by rl3 on Monday July 28, 2014 @07:38AM
(#8096138)
>Sometimes I comb my hair, or bite my fingernails.
You don't even need to comb your hair to leave DNA all over the place. A normal person will lose 50-100 hairs every day.[0]
Also, everyone sheds dead skill cells, and certain dermatological conditions can exacerbate matters.
[0] http://www.aad.org/dermatology-a-to-z/diseases-and-treatment...
Re:In Search for Killer, DNA Sweep Exposes Intimate Family S...
by jessaustin on Monday July 28, 2014 @09:46AM
(#8096639)
...everyone sheds dead skill cells...
True. If you're in an office you haven't visited before and would like to be disgusted, examine the bottoms of a few mice.
Sometimes I comb my hair, or bite my fingernails. What if part of it fell on the floor and some random person steps on it. Stuck on the bottom of their shoe. A bunch of coincidental stuff comes up and my DNA is tested against a fingernail/hair under victim's shoe... match. I'm doomed.
Indeed, I fear the mentality that DNA-match = Guilty.
How many people have been sent to jail/put to death based on false DNA results or even accurate but not via the crime they're accused of.