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DNA Odds Questioned

Via NACDL, the Los Angeles Times reports that questions have been raised about the accuracy of the FBI's statistics and about scrutiny of the databases. Concerns were expressed after a state crime scene analyst ran tests on Arizona's database and discovered two felons with remarkably similar genetic profiles. The unrelated men matched at 9 of the 13 loci. The FBI estimated the odds of unrelated people sharing those genetic markers to be as remote as 1 in 113 billion. Following the analyst's initial discovery, she found dozens of other similar matches. The FBI tried to stop distribution of her results and tried to block similar searches elsewhere, even those ordered by courts. How Reliable Is DNA in Identifying Suspects? is a must read article for those with cases involving DNA...continue to full post

Full post as published by Harmful Error on July 23, 2008 (boomark / email).