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Just recently the US Supreme Court ruled that it is, in actual fact, legal to obtain and analyze DNA from someone who is arrested for a severe crime – they argued that the evidence used for identification of any suspect, is no different from simple photographs or fingerprints.

When we think of the skin found at the tip of each finger, it is hard to comprehend that each individual’s fingerprint is the DNA genome of our entire physical being, and because our DNA is hereditary we can look at it as an historical file that helps to untangle the story of the geographical origins of our ancestors – moreover it can also tell us whether they arrived in this country by force or by choice and the social connections between different ethnic groups.

The field is vast as we discover – DNA also provides clues towards the physical traits of children before they’re born and even tell us if any diseases are developing. The knowledge obtained from DNA is endless and nowadays, it is becoming so much easier to decipher the encrypted DNA. With all our modern technology it will soon become the norm to determine the entire sequence of our genome. So basically, all fresh information can be found from DNA databases a long time after the initial arrest and this would not be possible with just photos and fingerprints.

A question that keeps coming to mind is whether DNA that is taken without the person’s consent will be used for things other than identification – ‘no’ would be the perfect answer but in reality no one knows for sure.

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