All things Science related. λν = c

[RobH4413]

Originally Posted by RedskinRat

DNA and Crime

First, as DNA databases grow, “easy to catch” offenders are deterred or incarcerated quickly, so new crimes are committed by more elusive offenders, resulting in new crimes that are more difficult to solve. Second, as police officers become more familiar with DNA and other forensic evidence, they grow more aware of the limited accuracy of tools they once relied upon—like eyewitness testimony—and are increasingly selective in whom they arrest, resulting in fewer but more accurate arrests.

And:

The cost of collecting and analyzing each DNA sample is less than $40, according to a US Department of Justice estimate, and less than $20 in several states. The marginal cost of analyzing new DNA samples continues to fall as technology improves, and DNA databases exhibit tremendous returns to scale. There are large startup costs for crime lab equipment and computer databases, but the cost of expanding the program is relatively small.

Yeah, but that also opens up some questions on the validity of these DNA tests. There have been several cases (with identical twins and what not) where it becomes nearly impossible to determine who did the crime.

Secondly, there also exists an unknown number of people who are Chimeras (other than Jason's family). They are people who actually possess two different strands of DNA. For instance in a maternity case they almost took a woman's children away from her because they didn't match her DNA. It wasn't until they had someone watch another child exit her womb, DNA that child, and come up with the same non-match result to hold up in court.

There are some serious drawbacks to DNA testing that need to be explored, but overall its a much more accurate method than eye witness accounts.

The Mind-Blowing World of Human Chimeras - Boing Boing