Biological evidence risk being exposed to harsh environmental conditions such as heat, direct sunlight, and water that can break down the chemical structure of DNA. This type of exposure damages DNA by randomly breaking the molecules into smaller pieces. Inhibitors of the polymerase chain reaction can also interfere with the ability to recover a full DNA profile from biological evidence (Forensic DNA, 2014). Current technology is being researched and developed to recover information from smaller regions of DNA, which are more likely to be intact following any possible damage. These new tests include mini short tandem repeats (STRs) which use PCR primers close to the STR repeat region and single nucleotide polymorphisms (Forensic DNA, 2014). …show more content…
Not only is the technology important but the knowledge and expertise of the operator is as well. During my research I found the most problems associated with DNA profiling dealt with incompetent techs. For example, in 1999, Josiah Sutton was convicted to 25 years in prison for the rape of a 41 year old woman which he did not commit. The tech responsible for the testing concluded in her results that Suttons DNA was “consistent” with the DNA found at the crime scene and that is what was presented to the jurors. No further testing was done to actually confirm these results. It was not until four years later that Sutton’s mother had his defense lawyer look into the case a second time and had the results of the evidence reanalyzed. It was concluded in 2003 that Josiah Suttons DNA was not a match for the DNA found at the crime scene or from the evidence collected from the victim’s rape kit. He had been falsely accused and wrongly convicted due to a technician’s poor judgment. Even the smallest mistake in the lab could cause major errors in lab results. It is very important that all staff be adequately trained and knowledge is kept up to date with competency and proficiency testing to avoid common errors such as …show more content…
There are many ways in which the discipline could progress to make forensic processes easier. Soon, I believe that DNA analyzation by PCR will be combined with current research known as genomics. Rogers defines genomics as “the scientific study of the molecular instructions encoded in your cells. It maps your entire genetic structure” (2015). Currently, profiling only focuses on identifying DNA. This information is only useful when compared and determined a successful match. The future of DNA profiling is headed in a direction where with the use of genomics, scientist will not only be able to identify a suspect from DNA but they will be able to computerize a 3D genome recreation of a human (Rogers, 2015). “A genome is the whole ensemble of your genetic material. It’s the molecular guide of your DNA, your chromosomes, and your genes that describes how to make your cells” (Rogers, 2015). In the future, I believe DNA profiling will be combined with the practices of genomics to generate an actual picture of a suspect instead of just a DNA match from biological evidence collected. Imagine a world where once a biological piece of evidence is found at a crime scene, then taken to a lab for DNA analysis, it automatically generates an entire profile of a person. Crimes would be able to be solved within a number of hours. This would be an excellent advancement in the criminal justice system. Another possible