Without knowing it, we're all in the gene databases already

brad — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 22:07:07 -0800

I have written before how future technology affects our privacy decisions today. DNA collection is definitely one of these areas. As you may know, law enforcement in the USA is now collecting DNA from people convicted of crimes, and even those arrested in a number of jurisdictions — with no ability to expunge the data if not found guilty. You may feel this doesn’t affect you, as you have not been arrested.

As DNA technology grows, bioinformatics software is becoming able to determine that a sample of DNA is a “near match” for somebody in a database. For example, they might determine that a person in the database is not the source of the DNA being studied, but is a relative of that person.

In a recent case, a DNA search turned up not the perpetrator, but his brother. They investigated the male relatives of the brother and found and convicted the man in question.

Brad Ideas - Without knowing it, we're all in the gene databases already - Comments

Without knowing it, we're all in the gene databases already