Part One
The National Institute of Standards and Technology undertook a study to evaluate the reliability of DNA evidence. From the research, DNA evidence is reliable since it can distinguish one person from another, even though the sequences in human DNA are the same ( Butler, Kline & Coble, 2018 ). However, the study posited that its reliability depends on the procedures and methods used to test it. When strategies and techniques are imprecise, sloppy, or prioritize specific results over exactitude, DNA evidence can be unreliable since it cannot be a trustworthy basis for conviction. Juries should not depend only on DNA evidence to prove guilt since innocent people's genetic material may be found at the crime scene. Without other corroborating evidence, DNA evidence cannot prove guilt.
There are various advances in DNA technology. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), a molecular biotic technique, is one of the specific advances. This method makes it possible to amplify, replicate, and evaluate small amounts of DNA ( Sreejith et al., 2018 ). Currently, this technique is used in identifying and pairing suspects with saliva, sperm, blood, or hair samples. At a crime scene, DNA left does not tell us how a particular crime was committed. The DNA left does not tell us how and when the samples got to the crime scene.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Part Two
“ Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” is one of my favorite detective shows. The show follows trained detectives who investigate sexual-related crimes (Netflix). After watching the show, I realized that the way evidence is collected and preserved is similar to what we see on television. For instance, crime investigators collect pieces of evidence such as blood, sperm, fingerprints, tire tracks, and other body fluids. The main difference between real-life and television crimes is the time required to conduct an evidence test. In TV shows, results are often released on the spot to please curious viewers, but in reality, evidence processing takes a longer time.
References
Butler, J. M., Kline, M. C., & Coble, M. D. (2018). NIST interlaboratory studies involving DNA mixtures (MIX05 and MIX13): variation observed and lessons learned. Forensic Science International: Genetics , 37 , 81-94. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1872497318302485
Netflix. (n.d.). Law & order: Special victims unit - The second year [Video]. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3079995673?playlistId=tt0203259&ref_=tt_ov_vi
Sreejith, K. R., Ooi, C. H., Jin, J., Dao, D. V., & Nguyen, N. T. (2018). Digital polymerase chain reaction technology–recent advances and future perspectives. Lab on a chip , 18 (24), 3717-3732. https://pubs.rsc.org/ko/content/articlehtml/2018/lc/c8lc00990b
