Essays on DNA Testing

Promoting Family Lifestyles

Question #1: Politics, Stress, and Sleep Research has shown where politics has a great influence upon who gets the best treatment for HIV infections in America. For example, the drug used in treatment of the condition is very is very expensive. As such, only persons who can afford treatment will be cured or relieved of the infection side effects (Parker, 2013).

References

Parker, P (2013). The Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic, Structural Inequalities, and the Politics of International Health. Am J Public Health. 92(3): 343–347. Question 2: Weight Management and Exercise – Weight Hysteria Research shows where society has placed ...

DNA in Forensic Science

Forensic Science deals with investigations of suspects or criminals in crime scenes legally. In most cases, there are usually a lot of people involved in crime scenes. Some of them being innocent while some are the criminals. Also, there may be one criminal involved in an incidence. In Forensic Science, DNA is used to differentiate the individuals so that the criminal among them can be known. Additionally, DNA analysis is performed in the paternity testing. It enables the determination of a parent or parents of a child. DNA analysis is now being regarded as scientific evidence ("Application of forensic ...

Kimiesha Nichols

Genetics has a major role in the onset of large number of non-communicable diseases, especially in case of monogenic diseases. As a result, genetic testing has gained credit and recognition for some advantages this DNA testing offers in prevention, treatment and management of disease. Two of its most important uses include for having information about genetic disposition to a particular disease and knowing about genetic characteristics of unborn child (Ross et al 2013). Rising from the elucidative potential of DNA testing, some legal, ethical and social concerns have surfaced up. The present essay with discuss these concerns to know ...

Introduction

According to Baker, the American justice system is in need of an evolution, which will bring the courtroom into the 21st century. Baker was speaking about the use of technology within the courtroom, but the availability of DNA has made it quite clear the American justice system needs to look forward to the future and consider all possibilities to improve the system as a whole. This paper will discuss the use of DNA in American justice system helped investigators to detect crime in a way easier than in the past.

History

DNA is more formally referred to as deoxyribonucleic acid, ...

Whereas the need for and application of scientific evidence has become a ubiquitous practice in most criminal justice systems, not so much attention has been paid to the potential limitations and problems associated with this type of evidence. Aspects of forensic technology such as DNA analysis have been used in the identification of the guilty and exoneration of the innocent globally for decades now. However, as the Innocence Project (n.d) notes, whereas some of these forensic technology procedures such as bite mark and shoe print comparisons were developed through thorough scientific research, many of these techniques are yet to ...

The Company

Ancestry unique selling proposition as a company is to provide family history and DNA testing facility for prospective consumers to primarily tie up the relationship found in the family tree in lieu with the genetics and health history that helps consumers to gain a new level of understanding about their family history. The company is a leader in the family history market and is considered the pioneers when it comes to the online research of family history; the belief system at the launch of the company in 1983 was to connect with people who wants to know their family ...

Genetically acquired disorders and characteristics can easily be transferred from the parents to offspring. Genetic counselling is an endeavor to educate the parents and make them aware of the impacts of their genetic composition on their future offspring. Diseases such as erythroblastosis fetalis result from the incompatibility between the father’s genetic composition and the mother’s, resulting in to a fetus with hemolytic anemia. It is therefore imperative that the parents are counselled on the various genetic characteristics which can result into problems on their born children. Genetic counselling is the process by which a parent is counselled ...

While the use of scientific evidence in solving crimes has helped in the identification of criminals and the exoneration of the innocent, there are certainly a number of problems that are associated with the use of forensic technology such as DNA testing within the criminal justice system. According to Edmond (2014), the use of forensic medical and scientific evidence within the criminal justice system has in a number of occasions led to wrongful convictions and hence a miscarriage of justice due to the fact that most of them are not reliable. The aspect of the reading from the Innocent ...

While the Civil War may have legally ended slavery, remnants of slavery and racial animosity continued to exist, and perhaps still do, in many parts of the country. Even after the passage of the Reconstruction Amendments, which attempted to empower newly freed African American slaves and give them equal rights of citizenship, states managed to find ways to disenfranchise blacks from exercising their newly acquired rights of citizenship. Racial prejudice was especially pervasive in the South. The era of Jim Crow laws, which controlled nearly every aspect of Southern public life, maintained strict separation of whites and blacks (Welke, ...

This movie highlights a very important issue in the United States of how racism can still influence improper convictions in court cases. In fact, the Central Park Five were also in the era where DNA testing was still becoming a device that was starting to be used in law enforcement. As a result of DNA testing, many criminals were exonerated that had served prison in vain for too many years. My reactions to viewing the movie the Central Park Five reminded me of an era where race was still a barrier even after country had survived the Civil Rights ...

DNA testing serves numerous purpose the present world; these purposes are primarily medical and police work. The medical applications of DNA testing are mainly to identify probable conditions and in paternity tests. In police work, on the other hand, DNA testing obtains evidence from the investigations. Every individual's DNA is unique from everybody else, the only exception that emerges in this is the case of Identical twins. DNA is present in all of the body and even in the body fluids such as semen, saliva, and blood. As such, DNA is becoming a major part of apprehending suspects and as ...

Introduction

DNA testing, also referred to as genetic fingerprinting is a technique that is employed by forensic scientists and police investigators in solving law enforcement cases. This genetic fingerprinting has been in existence since 1984 but recently, a new technique for solving crimes has emerged. This is known as familial DNA.

Familial DNA is a technique that allows police detectives to search and complete family tree in the process comparing evidence gathered form a crime scene to its close DNA matches (Familial DNA, 2010). The investigation may consequently hit on some of the people related to the individual who committed the crime and ...

Introduction

Miscarriage of justice is defined as the wrongful convictions of people due to the control of the police department and the prosecution during the investigation or pre trial when the individual could be proven innocent. This kind of injustice has been experienced throughout the world a good example is Australia in cases such as the Andrew mallard conviction, Lindy chamberlain Creighton conviction in 1982, Farah Jama conviction in 2008 and Terry Irving conviction in 1993. There are many factors that contribute to wrongful convictions in areas such as Australia. These factors are false confessions, eyewitness identification and testimony, tunnel vision, ...

One of the most difficult aspects of modern society is how can law enforcement and the criminal justice system do to protect the public, punish the wrong-doers and make certain that those punishments are appropriate in severity for the crime committed. Issues of justice and ethics within the criminal justice system continue to be fought on a daily basis. Of course the ideal situation is, when a crime is committed the perpetrator is identified, arrested, they confess to the crime they committed, they have a trial, where his or her guilt is not doubted, they do their “time,” and we all move ...

Profiling is described as the recording and analysis of a person’s psychological and behavioral characteristics, so as to assess or predict their capabalities in a certain sphere or to assist in identifying a particular subgroup of people (Merriam Webster Online). People can be profile based on their age, culture, disability, gender, occupation and race, among others. When applied in criminal justice, it is the process of infering the characteristics of a criminal based on his or her behavior during the crime. Law enforcers and psychologists work toward developing a criminal’s profile by carefully studying the evidence collected. Profiling plays an important role ...

Profiling is the recording and analysis of a person’s psychological behavioral characteristics in order to assess or predict their capabilities in a certain sphere or to assist in identifying a particular subgroup of people (Merriam Webster Online). This process is done according to a person’s age, culture, gender, race, occupation, and others. In criminal justice, police and psychologists develop a criminal’s profile by carefully studying the evidence gathered. Criminal investigators say that a criminal exhibits certain characteristics during the crime, and this can be observed through the evidence found in the crime scene (Penven). In the case of mistaken identity involving Ronald ...

The Verdict

As a juror on this case, there is an abundance of information, testimony and evidence to take into account. I would like to begin this case analysis by first stating my verdict and then describing why. Based on the Prosecution’s testimony, I find the Defendant/suspect of the bank robbery of Small Town Bank guilty beyond reasonable doubt. My decision was formed based on the circumstances of the crime and pursuit, forensic findings, and what evidence was found useful when reaching the guilty verdict.

Circumstances of the Crime

I do believe that the suspect is the bank robber due to numerous and varying circumstances. ...

INTRODUCTION

Punishment has always been used by the society to discourage would-be criminals from committing crimes. The fact that the society has the uppermost interest in preventing acts such as murder; it should use the harshest punishment available to dissuade murder. The only punishment that seems appropriate t is the death penalty. If these criminals receive the death sentence and are executed, then potential criminals will think twice before committing murder since the consequence is death. This, however, has lead to several misjudgments and innocent people have received the death sentence. The emotional urge for revenge is not a good ...

Introduction

The quest for justice for victims of crimes has and continues to generate an immense debate across various settings all around the world. On a similar note, the quest to administer adequate judgment for criminals suspected for perpetuating different crimes remains a prime objective for judicial systems all over the globe. Overall, the process of administering justice is a delicate process that calls for somber minds and adequate strategies that facilitate administration of justice that is beyond any reasonable doubt. DNA evidence and testing occurs as one of the major strategies that have been adopted by criminal investigations departments all over the ...

In “Am I My Genes?” Dr. Robert Klitzman states that there are about 5,000 diseases where there is good genetic data available for a pre-disposition for that disease (Donovan, 2012). In “Cracking Your Genetic Code” the program states that having some mutations, like the one for Huntington ’s disease is absolute, while other mutations just show an increased chance of the disease, which is much harder to interpret (Nova, 2012). Further, it should be realized that different sequencing companies at this point look at different parts of the genes so the results can be contradictory. In “Personal DNA ...

Mathematics

The topic for this research study is the applicability of DNA evidence in resolving criminal cases. Thesis Statement: DNA evidence is not an accurate means of identification of suspects because DNA analysis can be compromised, prone to errors and opposing interpretations due to external factors such as environment, contamination and bad laboratory practice. According Gardner and Anderson (2009), DNA evidence remains to be the most accurate means to identify a person. It has been an important development in criminal investigation and also a significant contribution to the entire criminal justice system. It provides a reliable basis for conviction. It has ...

Since its introduction in the United States in 1987, the use of forensic techniques analyzing deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has evolved into a standard form of evidence in criminal proceedings (Calandro, Reeder, & Cormier). There are at least three major ways that DNA forensics can be utilized in combating crimes. First, it can act as evidence of the presence of a suspect at the scene of a crime, or for certain crimes that can leave DNA evidence such as rape, even stronger evidence in support of guilt. Second, DNA forensics can be utilized to help solve older crimes that have gone cold, where materials ...

Blood Match

The case of Darryl Hunt is an example of negligence on the part of the prosecution as well as the entire criminal justice system. A man serves 19 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit. Of these 19 years, 10 years have been served even after DNA evidence proves that Hunt’s DNA does not match that of the semen found on the body of Deborah Sykes. Today, such a match cannot be ignored. According to Connors et al (1996), a report by the Department of Justice revealed about 28 cases of males who had received conviction on ...

Cloning

1.0 Historical Background During mammalian reproduction, the sperm fuses with the egg. During this process, both the egg and the sperm contribute half of the genetic material resulting into a genetically unique individual. On the other hand, cloning involves the development of an organism or cell that has identical genetic materials to the parent. Thus cloning can be defined as producing a copy of DNA, cell or organism asexually. This definition is not a clear reflection of what people considers cloning to be thus raising perennial and heated debate on the ethics and morals of cloning. However, it worth noting that ...

DNA Testing

The idea of holding a national DNA database is not a new phenomenon since it has been debated within the last two decades in criminal justice circles. Research affirms that the first national DNA database commonly abbreviated as NDNAD was established in 1995 in the United States (Gerstenfeld, 2006). Since then, many countries across the globe have taken the initiative of establishing their national DNA database. In 1997, the French government decided to establish a national DNA database known as FNAEG: the second in the world. There are various reasons that compel governments to establish national DNA databases. For example, the government ...

In the 21st century, there is tremendous increase of criminal activities in society. In response to this change, the criminal justice system has implemented ways to punish some heinous crimes. One of the methods of punishment is the death penalty; this refers to the lawful infliction of death to a criminal as a way of punishing. These sorts of punishment have existed since ancient era, but it continues to be a controversial issue. There are various reasons why many scholars and lawmakers think it's wrong or right. The death penalty is a controversial issue among the people has evidence to support their opinions. ...

Sometimes Forensic Casework items consist of less than 100 picograms (pg) of template DNA which, if we assume 3.5 pg of DNA per haploid cell, can be equated to approximately thirty haploid cells or fifteen diploid cells are termed as LCN DNA (low template DNA or LT DNA). (Gill 17) Such low copy number (LCN) samples exist due to several factors like damaged or degraded DNA, oligozoospermia or aspermic perpetrators or extended interval post coital samples, where there is loss of sperm over time because of the effects of drainage or host cell metabolism. From crime scenes, Trace ...

DNA Analysis

Forensic science (also known as forensics) can be defined as the use of scientific methods to respond to questions relating to a legal system. The questions could be related to civil action or solving a crime. The term forensics is derived from the Latin word forensic, which means “before the forum”. This word was conjured during Roman times when criminal charges were brought before a group of people in a public forum (Inman & Rudin, 2000). The accused and his accuser would present their speeches and give accounts of their versions of the story. The person who argued his case better than the ...

Criminal Identification Procedures in the 21st Century: DNA Analysis

At present, forensic science is virtually unregulated—with the paradoxical result that clinical laboratories must meet higher standards to be allowed to diagnose strep throat than forensic labs must meet to put a defendant on death row.

—Eric S. Lander, molecular biologist, 1989

Advantages and Disadvantages of DNA in Law Enforcement DNA is the most scientifically sound, among all forensic tests used in criminal investigations; yet, it is the most strictly regulated (Giannelli, 2011). In 1988, the FBI established the Technical Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (“TWGDAM”) to assure quality control in DNA analysis. A few years later, Congress passed the DNA Identification Act ...

Report on Prisons and Contemporary Issues

Prisonner's Rights to DNA Testing

A person convicted of a crime would nonetheless lose his constitutional rights for freedom. The objective of court trials is to weigh the evidence that all parties have presented to justify arguments of innocence or guilt. A court trial is the best time for any accused to prove his innocence of a crime and he should maximize that opportunity to do his best to defend himself. However, trials are not just about facts and evidence it's also about possibilities. Possibilities that the accused is actually innocent, despite the evidence pointing at him. As soon as the ...

Showing the value of DNA testing in solving crime and proving innocence the case of Kirk Bloodsworth is demonstrative of both. In 1984, Dawn Hamilton was raped and murdered. She was only 9 years old at the time. Frank Bloodsworth was convicted of the crime. Multiple witnesses had testified they saw him near the scene of the crime and he was sent to Death Row. A year later, his conviction was overturned by the Maryland Court of Appeals and the case was remanded for retrial. Once again, he was convicted, this time he was sentenced to a life term. DNA ...

The use of forensics in criminal investigations is, today, a huge element of the process. Furthermore, there has been a surge in the introduction of television programs on the subject, for example CSI. In particular, the introduction of DNA testing has signalled a major breakthrough in the quality of evidence used in court. By examining DNA, it is possible to prove, without reasonable doubt, whether a suspect is innocent or guilty of a crime, just by testing and matching his DNA with that of samples found on the scene of the crime. As with most relatively new discoveries, there are criticisms of DNA. However, ...

DNA and cancer treatment

Wade, N. (2010). Speed-reading of DNA may help cancer treatment. Retrieved on June 7, 2011, from The Johns Hopkins University has initiated a method of investigating the progress of a patient’s cancer treatment by means of modern technology for rapid succession, or decoding, huge quantities of DNA. The author in this article states clearly that individuals have a unit account of the DNA within their mitochondria, which are the several energy stores inside each cell. It states that apart form the mutations or modifications, in DNA present in cancer patients, even health individuals are known to have differences in ...