A DNA databank is just that, a databank. It would contain DNA samples from every citizen in the United States. The controversy starts where privacy rights are brought up.

Pro: A DNA databank would allow law enforcement to catch criminals that haven’t committed a crime before. In the current system, DNA is only kept for convicted criminals.

A DNA databank should exist in order to make identifying criminals easier and to assist the medical/scientific community.

1. The most simple point there could be: it would be easier to catch offenders, even if it was their first time committing a crime. This is inarguably valuable and would probably even result in most offenders being caught quicker than they normally would. I personally feel like it …show more content…
It would also potentially allow wrongly convicted people to prove their innocence using DNA. A DNA search could be launched for DNA matching DNA found at the scene and find either A: Another offender or B: the actual perpetrator.

A DNA database should not be established due to privacy rights.

1. DNA can reveal information about a person. For example, DNA can reveal a persons ethnicity. In a time where it seems like the majority of the news if filled with drama about race and ethnicity, some people may want to keep their ethnicity secret. Also, with access to ethnicity and genetic predispositions, discrimination is possible.

2. As a country, we have sub-par cyber security; therefore, the database/bank could be hacked. If such a database was hacked all the information inside is, of course, able to be recorded and changed by the party that hacked it. Furthermore, as proven by the past, we would likely not notice such an attack for at least several weeks.

3. Let’s also remember the simple truth: any databank on this scale would be insanely expensive. A databank containing the DNA of every person in the United States would be a database of more then 300 million DNA samples plus whatever the amount of people born every year. It would easily be a multi-million dollar project which, to be honest, I don’t think would be the best idea considering our current debt and involvement in the Middle