Establishing Innocence
DNA Fingerprinting can help to speed along court cases by eliminating suspects. Between 1989 and 1996, the FBI used genetic testing in about 10,000 sexual assault cases; in 2,000 of those cases, the prime suspect was discovered to have not committed the crime. Without genetic testing, it can be assumed that some of these men would have been convicted. In fact, many prison inmates have appealed their conviction after spending years in jail, and have been discovered to be innocent.
Identification
As a result of the unidentified remains of American soldiers that have been found abroad, the U.S. military has been compiling data from mitochondrial DNA to help identify the soldiers. Mitochondrial DNA is passed on by the mother only, and as a result, remains mostly identical within families. By testing DNA from the bones of the remains of soldiers against the military’s database, scientists have identified 500 soldiers so far, and another 250 more are under study.
Human Genetics Concepts and Applications, Second Edition
By Ricki Lewis. Dubuque, IA; Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1997
BOOK:
Concepts of Genetics – 5th Edition
By William S. Klug & Michael R. Cummings BOOK:
Genetics & Human Health
By Faith Hickman Brynie
Brookfield, CT; Milbrook Press, 1995, General DNA
BOOK:
The Secret of Life
By Joseph Levine and David Suzuki
Boston, MA; WGBH Boston, 1993
Upper Saddle River, NJ; Prentice Hall, 1994
BOOK:
Does It Run In the Family
Doris Teichler Zallen
New Brunswick, NJ; Rutgers University Press, 1997
BOOK:
Clone
By Gina Kolata
New York, NY; W. Morrow & Co., 1998
BOOK:
Genetic Engineering – Progress or Peril
By Linda Tagliaferro
Minneapolis, MN; Lerner Publications Company, 1997