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Dna Profiling Pros And Cons

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Serious issues, both positive and negative, arise when DNA profiling is used to identify suspects and/or individuals potentially involved in crimes. Ethical issues are most often related to the storing of DNA profiles in a National DNA Database. Not only does this database include DNA information from suspected criminals, it contains DNA information from victims, volunteers and suspects who were not deemed guilty. DNA is the genetic make-up of a person’s body and many people argue whether it is fair or not to keep such private information in such a large database as this, especially those who had nothing to do with the crime. “It is debatable whether the benefits to society of having a national DNA database outweighs an individual’s right to …show more content…

“Who owns the genetic information and who controls what happens to it and how it is used?” The people/group of people responsible for the protection and privacy of each DNA profile is uncertain, therefore causing concern for individuals with their DNA information on the …show more content…

This can progress to people being acquainted with depression or mental health issues caused by being convicted of a crime and then finding out they are actually innocent. Despite this, police send small samples to multiple independent labs, which helps to reduce the possibility of an error which would affect the final results. Again, this can be related to the ethical issues of DNA profiling, as DNA evidence is being passed through multiple labs, meaning the individuals private DNA information has the potential to be used in a different crime than originally sort out. However, it is stated in an article on “Forensic Databases: benefits and ethical and social costs” that “Public support has been presumed on the grounds that all law-abiding people want criminals to be caught and convicted and the ‘innocent’ have nothing to fear from DNA technology.” Therefore it can be concluded that the public want criminals to be caught, so having DNA evidence passed through these independent labs, helps in a faster, more accurate identification of these criminals and if you are actually innocent then you should have nothing to worry about, as your DNA evidence will not arise in this

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