{"id":2950,"date":"2019-12-04T02:33:54","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T02:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/?p=2950"},"modified":"2019-12-04T02:33:54","modified_gmt":"2019-12-04T02:33:54","slug":"family-tree-forensics-fighting-crime-with-dna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/family-tree-forensics-fighting-crime-with-dna\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Tree Forensics: Fighting Crime with DNA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Linda Cullen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Genetic genealogy is\na new forensic technique that has taken the crime-fighting world by storm. By\nsending your DNA to companies such as 23andMe or AncestryDNA, you can help\ncatch violent criminals, mostly of unsolved murder and rape cases, and solve\ncases from years ago and now. While it may be controversial, many criminal\ncases have been solved and the perpetrator has been caught using this\ntechnique. For example, the Golden State Killer, who terrorized women\nthroughout the state of California during the 1980s, was caught in 2018 using\ngenetic genealogy (1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is It Okay for Law Enforcement to Have Access to Consumers\u2019 DNA?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Many\nDNA databases have now allowed law enforcement access to their information\nthrough the new terms and conditions. For a while, there was controversy\nsurrounding the idea of law enforcement having access to the DNA within these\ndatabases for violent crime investigation without the consumers explicitly\nbeing notified. A company called FamilyTreeDNA was exposed for allowing law\nenforcement access to the genetic profiles of over a million users (2). Many\npeople thought this was an invasion of privacy, especially considering they did\nnot give consent for their DNA profiles to be viewed and used by law\nenforcement. FamilyTreeDNA\u2019s response to the criticism was that they felt a\nmoral obligation to help solve violent cases given the information they had (3).\nNow, people seem to not have an issue with their DNA being available to law\nenforcement, considering that many criminal cases have been solved thanks to\nthe use of genetic genealogy (2). Now, the concept of law enforcement having\naccess to consumers\u2019 DNA is less of a controversy, as long as there is\ntransparency between law enforcement, the DNA database companies, and the\ncustomers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Does It Work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DNA from crime scenes\nare inputted into the genetic database GEDmatch and cross-referenced with DNA\nof consumers within databases like 23andMe and AncestryDNA. If a match is\nfound, it is most likely a distant relative of the perpetrator of the crime.\nLaw enforcement can then trace back through the ancestry tree to find the\nperson in the family who committed the crime and arrest them (1). This\ntechnique is especially helpful for older cases, when DNA testing couldn\u2019t be\nused.  The technique requires testing of\nY-DNA, which is a genetic test that follows the paternal lineage. This\nincreases the popularity among forensic investigators because it\u2019s the best way\nlocate relatives through the male genetic line as well as determine the gender\nof the person\u2019s DNA left at the crime scene (4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Convicting Family<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The\nbiggest concern with this new forensic technique is that people will be\nunknowingly giving information to law enforcement that could get someone in\ntheir family convicted on a violent crime. While this seems to be a big issue,\nmost of the relatives found through forensic genealogy are distant relatives,\nsuch as third or fourth cousins, and don\u2019t even know the relative who committed\nthe crime (2). Many people also feel that everyone should do time for violent\ncrimes they have committed, such as murder or rape, even if it means helping to\nput a family member in prison. While it\u2019s easy to look at the situation from an\noutside perspective and say that it is one\u2019s moral responsibilty to give their\nDNA to solve crimes, even if it means getting a family member arrested, there is\nmuch more to consider in reality. The emotional distress that can come from\nmaking this decision is very difficult to put upon a family member. It is also\nvery difficult for people to put aside family loyalties to get justice for someone\nthey probably don\u2019t know. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should You Send in\nYour Spit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many campaigns have\ncome out supporting the use of forensic genealogy and advocating to the public\nthat they can help catch violent criminals by sending in their DNA. The most\nfamous advertisement is Ed Smart\u2019s ad for the genetic testing company\nFamilyTreeDNA, which advocated for allowing law enforcement access to DNA\ndatabases and asking viewers to send in their DNA (3). Ed Smart\u2019s daughter is\nElizabeth Smart, who was abducted when she was 14 years old. His message was\nthat the families of victims of violent crimes need and deserve answers, and\nthat your DNA could be the missing piece to finding those answers (3). I would\nrecommend that you send in your spit, because the possibility of solving a\nviolent crime with your DNA could mean giving closure to and getting justice\nfor a victim or a victim\u2019s family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.\u00a0 Corbyn, Z. (2019).\u00a0How taking a home genetics test could help catch a murderer<\/em>. https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/science\/2018\/dec\/01\/how-home-dna-tests-are-solving-cold-cases-golden-state-killer [Accessed 14 Nov. 2019]. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.\u00a0 Zhang, S. (2019).\u00a0A DNA Company Wants You to Help Catch Criminals<\/em>. [online] https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/science\/archive\/2019\/03\/a-dna-company-wants-your-dna-to-catch-criminals\/586120\/ [Accessed 14 Nov. 2019].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. MIT Technology Review. (2019).\u00a0Help us catch killers is now the new advertising angle for DNA companies<\/em>. https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/f\/613232\/help-us-catch-killers-is-now-the-new-advertising-angle-for-dna-companies\/ [Accessed 14 Nov. 2019]. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Corporation, P. (2019).\u00a0Forensic Genealogy: What Your Second Cousin\u2019s DNA May Say about You – ISHI News<\/em>. https:\/\/www.ishinews.com\/forensic-genealogy-what-your-second-cousins-dna-may-say-about-you\/ [Accessed 14 Nov. 2019]. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Linda Cullen Genetic genealogy is a new forensic technique that has taken the crime-fighting world by storm. By sending your DNA to companies such as 23andMe or AncestryDNA, you can help catch violent criminals, mostly of unsolved murder and rape cases, and solve cases from years ago and now. While it may be controversial, … Continue reading Family Tree Forensics: Fighting Crime with DNA<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3183,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[110],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genetic-testing"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3183"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2950\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ctlsites.uga.edu\/biol2013h-2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}