Forensic DNA Technology

This book examines the legal and scientific issues relating to the implementation of DNA print technology in both the crime laboratory and the courtroom. It traces the underlying theory and historical development of this technology, as well as the methodology utilized in the Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) techniques. The effect of environmental contaminants on the evidence and the statistical analysis of population genetics data as it relates to the potential of this technology for individualizing the donor of the sample are also addressed. Other topics include the proposed guidelines for using this technology in the crime laboratory, the perspectives of the prosecution and the defence, and the legal standards for determining the admissability and weight of such evidence at trial. The issues of validation and the standards for intepretation of audioradiograms are considered with the aid of actual case work. The contributors are Jan A. Witkowski, Roger Kahn, Michael L. Baird, Lawrence Mueller, George Sensabaugh, Cecilia Von Beroldingen, Bruce Budowle, Samuel Baechtel, Dwight E. Adams, William Thompson, Simon Ford, Rockne Harmon, Allan Hymer and Jan Bashinski.