DNA-the Forensic Tool of the '90s

▪ 2000

      The 1990s saw the evolution of one of law enforcement's greatest investigative tools—the use of DNA testing as evidence in criminal trials. First introduced in the courtroom in the late 1980s, this new technology was used not only to gain convictions but also to free many who had been wrongly incarcerated. By mid-1999 more than 60 people had been released from American prisons following postconviction analysis of DNA evidence. Many of them had already served a number of years behind bars.

      A DNA profile is created by first collecting a sample of an individual's cells, frequently from blood, tissue, or saliva. A DNA molecule is removed from a cell, purified, and then cut and processed to reveal a pattern that is unique to that individual. This profile is then available to compare with a DNA sample from a crime scene. The reliability of DNA evidence was initially met with some skepticism, but by the end of the 1990s a number of advances, which included comparing a greater number of sites on the DNA molecules, rendered a DNA match essentially 100% conclusive. Additionally, much smaller samples than before could be used to link criminal and crime; even minute amounts of saliva—such as those found on the rim of a coffee cup or the back of a postage stamp—were enough to be analyzed and used as evidence.

      Recognizing the crime-solving potential of DNA testing and the success of a similar British program started in 1995, the FBI in October 1998 launched the National DNA Index System (NDIS), a nationwide computer database, into which states could submit samples both from known criminals and from unknown persons at crime scenes. Some three months after its introduction, the database had already been used to solve about 200 crimes, and this number was expected to increase significantly once all 50 states had joined the system. Although all states had laws requiring at least some convicted criminals to provide DNA samples, many did not have the resources needed to collect and process them. Fewer than one-third of the states were submitting samples to the national system, and a backlog existed of more than 400,000 DNA samples that had been collected but not processed, as well as an additional 200,000 that needed to be retested owing to changes in technology.

      Although many both inside and outside law enforcement strongly endorsed the formation and expansion of a national DNA database, some civil rights groups voiced opposition, citing privacy concerns as well as the potential for misuse of database information. To help examine the issues surrounding this evolving science, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in 1997 called for the formation of the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence. The advisory committee, which was composed of a number of policy makers and other concerned parties, was continuing its investigation at the end of 1999.

Sandra Langeneckert

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