Editing DNA profiling (section)

==DNA evidence in criminal trials==
<!-- Section linked from [[Template:Evidence law]] -->
{{Evidence law}}

===Familial DNA searching===
Familial DNA searching (sometimes referred to as "familial DNA" or "familial DNA database searching") is the practice of creating new investigative leads in cases where DNA evidence found at the scene of a crime (forensic profile) strongly resembles that of an existing DNA profile (offender profile) in a state DNA database but there is not an exact match.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-dimond/searching-the-family-dna-_b_845340.html|title = Searching the Family DNA Tree to Solve Crime|date = 12 April 2011|access-date = 17 April 2011|website = HuffPost Denver|publisher = The Huffington Post| vauthors = Diamond D |author-link = Diane Diamond|type = Blog|archive-date = 14 April 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110414010014/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-dimond/searching-the-family-dna-_b_845340.html|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bieber FR, Brenner CH, Lazer D | title = Human genetics. Finding criminals through DNA of their relatives | journal = Science | volume = 312 | issue = 5778 | pages = 1315–1316 | date = June 2006 | pmid = 16690817 | doi = 10.1126/science.1122655 | s2cid = 85134694 | doi-access = free }}{{Closed access}}</ref> After all other leads have been exhausted, investigators may use specially developed software to compare the forensic profile to all profiles taken from a state's DNA database to generate a list of those offenders already in the database who are most likely to be a very close relative of the individual whose DNA is in the forensic profile.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.dnaforensics.com/FamilialSearches.aspx|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101107011011/http://dnaforensics.com/FamilialSearches.aspx|url-status = dead|archive-date = 7 November 2010|title = Familial searches allows law enforcement to identify criminals through their family members|access-date = 7 December 2015|website = DNA Forensics|last = Staff|at = United Kingdom – A Pioneer in Familial Searches}}</ref>

Familial DNA database searching was first used in an investigation leading to the conviction of Jeffrey Gafoor of the [[murder of Lynette White]] in the United Kingdom on 4 July 2003. DNA evidence was matched to Gafoor's nephew, who at 14 years old had not been born at the time of the murder in 1988. It was used again in 2004<ref>{{Cite journal|url = https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4908-killer-convicted-thanks-to-relatives-dna/|title = Killer convicted thanks to relative's DNA| vauthors = Bhattacharya S |date = 20 April 2004|journal = [[New Sci.|New Scientist]]|access-date = 17 April 2011|department = Daily News|archive-date = 8 December 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151208032045/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4908-killer-convicted-thanks-to-relatives-dna/|url-status = live}}{{Open access}}</ref> to find a man who threw a brick from a motorway bridge and hit a lorry driver, killing him. DNA found on the brick matched that found at the scene of a car theft earlier in the day, but there were no good matches on the national DNA database. A wider search found a partial match to an individual; on being questioned, this man revealed he had a brother, Craig Harman, who lived very close to the original crime scene. Harman voluntarily submitted a DNA sample, and confessed when it matched the sample from the brick.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Greely HT, Riordan DP, Garrison NA, Mountain JL | title = Family ties: the use of DNA offender databases to catch offenders' kin | journal = The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics | volume = 34 | issue = 2 | pages = 248–262 | date = Summer 2006 | pmid = 16789947 | doi = 10.1111/j.1748-720x.2006.00031.x | url = http://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/default/files/event/264460/media/slspublic/Greely.pdf | access-date = 8 December 2015 | url-status = live | s2cid = 1718295 | department = Symposium | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151208125555/http://law.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/default/files/event/264460/media/slspublic/Greely.pdf | archive-date = 8 December 2015 }}</ref> As of 2011, familial DNA database searching is not conducted on a national level in the United States, where states determine how and when to conduct familial searches. The first familial DNA search with a subsequent conviction in the United States was conducted in [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]], Colorado, in 2008, using software developed under the leadership of [[Denver District Attorney]] [[Mitch Morrissey]] and Denver Police Department Crime Lab Director Gregg LaBerge.<ref name = "Pankratz_2011">{{cite web | vauthors = Pankratz H | url = http://www.denverpost.com/denver/ci_13801125 | title = Denver Uses 'Familial DNA Evidence' to Solve Car Break-Ins. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121019212129/http://www.denverpost.com/denver/ci_13801125 | archive-date=19 October 2012 | work =The Denver Post | date = 17 April 2011 }}</ref> California was the first state to implement a policy for familial searching under then-Attorney General [[Jerry Brown]], who later became Governor.<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Steinhaur J | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/us/09sleeper.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211025192246/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/us/09sleeper.html | archive-date=25 October 2021 | title = Grim Sleeper' Arrest Fans Debate on DNA Use | work = The New York Times | date = 9 July 2010 | access-date = 17 April 2011 }}</ref> In his role as consultant to the Familial Search Working Group of the [[California Department of Justice]], former [[Alameda County]] Prosecutor Rock Harmon is widely considered to have been the catalyst in the adoption of familial search technology in California. The technique was used to catch the Los Angeles serial killer known as the "[[Grim Sleeper]]" in 2010.<ref>{{cite news |vauthors = Dolan M |url = http://www.law.stanford.edu/display/images/dynamic/events_media/GrimSleeper.pdf |title = A New Track in DNA Search |newspaper = LA Times |access-date = 17 April 2011  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202175053/http://www.law.stanford.edu/display/images/dynamic/events_media/GrimSleeper.pdf |archive-date=2 December 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was not a witness or informant that tipped off law enforcement to the identity of the "Grim Sleeper" serial killer, who had eluded police for more than two decades, but DNA from the suspect's own son. The suspect's son had been arrested and convicted in a felony weapons charge and swabbed for DNA the year before. When his DNA was entered into the database of convicted felons, detectives were alerted to a partial match to evidence found at the "Grim Sleeper" crime scenes. David Franklin Jr., also known as the Grim Sleeper, was charged with ten counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/familys-dna-led-police-grim-sleeper-serial-killer/story?id=11116381 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200730020241/https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/familys-dna-led-police-grim-sleeper-serial-killer/story?id=11116381#.UMifSmglbFI | archive-date=30 July 2020 | title = New DNA Technique Led Police to 'Grim Sleeper' Serial Killer and Will 'Change Policing in America | work = ABC News }}</ref> More recently, familial DNA led to the arrest of 21-year-old Elvis Garcia on charges of sexual assault and false imprisonment of a woman in [[Santa Cruz, California|Santa Cruz]] in 2008.<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Dolan M | url = http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/familial-dna-search-used-in-grim-sleeper-case-leads-to-arrest-of-santa-cruz-sex-offender.html | title = Familial DNA Search Used In Grim Sleeper Case Leads to Arrest of Santa Cruz Sex Offender | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110321232332/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/familial-dna-search-used-in-grim-sleeper-case-leads-to-arrest-of-santa-cruz-sex-offender.html | archive-date=21 March 2011 | newspaper = LA Times | date = 15 March 2011 | access-date = 17 April 2011 }}</ref> In March 2011 [[Virginia]] Governor [[Bob McDonnell]] announced that Virginia would begin using familial DNA searches.<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Helderman R | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/mcdonnell-approves-familial-dna-for-va-crime-fighting/2011/03/21/ABOK4f6_blog.html | title = McDonnell Approves Familial DNA for VA Crime Fighting | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211025192315/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/virginia-politics/post/mcdonnell-approves-familial-dna-for-va-crime-fighting/2011/03/21/ABOK4f6_blog.html | archive-date=25 October 2021 | newspaper = The Washington Post | access-date = 17 April 2011 }}</ref>

At a press conference in Virginia on 7 March 2011, regarding the [[East Coast Rapist]], Prince William County prosecutor Paul Ebert and Fairfax County Police Detective John Kelly said the case would have been solved years ago if Virginia had used familial DNA searching. Aaron Thomas, the suspected East Coast Rapist, was arrested in connection with the rape of 17 women from Virginia to Rhode Island, but familial DNA was not used in the case.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Christoffersen J, Barakat M | url = http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/mar/08/other-victims-of-east-coast-rapist-suspect-sought/ | title = Other victims of East Coast Rapist suspect sought | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110628204408/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/mar/08/other-victims-of-east-coast-rapist-suspect-sought/ | archive-date=28 June 2011 | agency = Associated Press | access-date = 25 May 2011 }}</ref>

Critics of familial DNA database searches argue that the technique is an invasion of an individual's [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|4th Amendment]] rights.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Murphy EA | year = 2009 | title = Relative Doubt: Familial Searches of DNA Databases | url = http://www.michiganlawreview.org/assets/pdfs/109/3/murphy.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101201110255/http://www.michiganlawreview.org/assets/pdfs/109/3/murphy.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = 1 December 2010 | journal = Michigan Law Review | volume = 109 | pages = 291–348 }}</ref> Privacy advocates are petitioning for DNA database restrictions, arguing that the only fair way to search for possible DNA matches to relatives of offenders or arrestees would be to have a population-wide DNA database.<ref name="Cole-2007" /> Some scholars have pointed out that the privacy concerns surrounding familial searching are similar in some respects to other police search techniques,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Suter S | year = 2010 | title = All in The Family: Privacy and DNA Familial Searching | url = http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/articles/pdf/v23.2/23HarvJLTech309.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110607082902/http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/articles/pdf/v23.2/23HarvJLTech309.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = 7 June 2011 | journal = Harvard Journal of Law and Technology | volume = 23 | page = 328 }}</ref> and most have concluded that the practice is constitutional.<ref>Kaye, David H., (2013). [https://archive.today/20140725210336/http://ssrn.com/abstract=2043091 "The Genealogy Detectives: A Constitutional Analysis of Familial Searching"] American Criminal Law Review, Vol. 51, No. 1, 109–163, 2013.</ref> The [[Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals]] in ''United States v. Pool'' (vacated as moot) suggested that this practice is somewhat analogous to a witness looking at a photograph of one person and stating that it looked like the perpetrator, which leads law enforcement to show the witness photos of similar looking individuals, one of whom is identified as the perpetrator.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/09/14/09-10303.pdf | title = US v. Pool | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110427043310/http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/09/14/09-10303.pdf | archive-date=27 April 2011 | work = Pool 621F .3d 1213 }}</ref>

Critics also state that racial profiling could occur on account of familial DNA testing. In the United States, the conviction rates of racial minorities are much higher than that of the overall population. It is unclear whether this is due to discrimination from police officers and the courts, as opposed to a simple higher rate of offence among minorities. Arrest-based databases, which are found in the majority of the United States, lead to an even greater level of racial discrimination. An arrest, as opposed to conviction, relies much more heavily on police discretion.<ref name="Cole-2007"/>

For instance, investigators with Denver District Attorney's Office successfully identified a suspect in a property theft case using a familial DNA search. In this example, the suspect's blood left at the scene of the crime strongly resembled that of a current [[Colorado Department of Corrections]] prisoner.<ref name = "Pankratz_2011" />

===Partial matches===
Partial DNA matches are the result of moderate stringency CODIS searches that produce a potential match that shares at least one [[allele]] at every [[locus (genetics)|locus]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090718171602/http://www.chromosomal-labs.com/files/FindingCriminals.pdf "Finding Criminals Through DNA Testing of Their Relatives"] Technical Bulletin, Chromosomal Laboratories, Inc. accessed 22 April 2011.</ref> Partial matching does not involve the use of familial search software, such as those used in the United Kingdom and the United States, or additional [[Y-STR]] analysis and therefore often misses sibling relationships. Partial matching has been used to identify suspects in several cases in both countries<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.denverda.org/DNA/Familial_DNA_Database_Searches.htm | title = Denver District Attorney DNA Resources | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110324020014/http://www.denverda.org/dna/Familial_DNA_Database_Searches.htm | archive-date=24 March 2011 | access-date = 20 April 2011}}</ref> and has also been used as a tool to exonerate the falsely accused. [[Darryl Hunt]] was wrongly convicted in connection with the rape and the murder of a young woman in 1984 in [[North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.innocenceproject.org/news/Blog-Search.php?check=true&tag=134 |title = Darryl Hunt |work = The Innocence Project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828152727/http://www.innocenceproject.org/news/Blog-Search.php?check=true&tag=134 |archive-date=28 August 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Surreptitious DNA collecting===
Police forces may collect DNA samples without a suspect's knowledge, and use it as evidence. The legality of the practice has been questioned in [[Australia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi26|title=The forensic use of DNA profiling| vauthors = Easteal PW, Easteal S |date=3 November 2017|website=Australian Institute of Criminology|language=en|access-date=18 February 2019|archive-date=19 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219072937/https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi26|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the [[United States]], where it has been accepted, courts often rule that there is no [[expectation of privacy]] and cite ''[[California v. Greenwood]]'' (1988), in which the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] held that the [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourth Amendment]] does not prohibit the [[Search warrant|warrantless]] search and seizure of [[Waste|garbage]] left for collection outside the [[curtilage]] of a [[home]]. Critics of this practice underline that this analogy ignores that "most people have no idea that they risk surrendering their genetic identity to the police by, for instance, failing to destroy a used coffee cup. Moreover, even if they do realize it, there is no way to avoid abandoning one's DNA in public."<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Harmon A | author-link1 = Amy Harmon | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/science/03dna.html | title = Lawyers Fight DNA Samples Gained on Sly | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211025192256/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/science/03dna.html | archive-date=25 October 2021 | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = 3 April 2008 }}</ref>

The United States Supreme Court ruled in ''[[Maryland v. King]]'' (2013) that DNA sampling of prisoners arrested for serious crimes is constitutional.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. Supreme Court allows DNA sampling of prisoners|url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/06/03/US-Supreme-Court-allows-DNA-sampling-of-prisoners/UPI-45601370271128/#ixzz2VBFXuZve|publisher=UPI|access-date=3 June 2013|archive-date=10 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130610090445/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/06/03/US-Supreme-Court-allows-DNA-sampling-of-prisoners/UPI-45601370271128/#ixzz2VBFXuZve|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-207_d18e.pdf|title=Supreme Court of the United States – Syllabus: Maryland v. King, Certiorari to the Court of Appeals of Maryland|access-date=27 June 2017|archive-date=24 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824051608/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-207_d18e.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite report | vauthors = Samuels JE, Davies EH, Pope DB | title = Collecting DNA at Arrest: Policies, Practices, and Implications. | date = June 2013 | url = https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/242812.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151022134510/https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/242812.pdf | archive-date=22 October 2015 | location = Washington, D.C. | publisher = [[Urban Institute]] | work = Justice Policy Center }}</ref>

In the [[United Kingdom]], the ''[[Human Tissue Act 2004]]'' prohibits private individuals from covertly collecting biological samples (hair, fingernails, etc.) for DNA analysis but exempts medical and criminal investigations from the prohibition.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Scientificdevelopmentgeneticsandbioethics/Tissue/TissueGeneralInformation/DH_4102169 | title = Human Tissue Act 2004 | publisher = UK | access-date = 7 April 2017 | archive-date = 6 March 2008 | archive-url = http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080306151453/http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publichealth/Scientificdevelopmentgeneticsandbioethics/Tissue/TissueGeneralInformation/DH_4102169 | url-status = dead}}</ref>

===England and Wales===
Evidence from an expert who has compared DNA samples must be accompanied by evidence as to the sources of the samples and the procedures for obtaining the DNA profiles.<ref>{{cite court|litigants=R v. Loveridge |reporter=EWCA Crim|opinion=734<!-- this might in fact be 973! -->|year=2001|url=}}</ref> The judge must ensure that the jury must understand the significance of DNA matches and mismatches in the profiles. The judge must also ensure that the jury does not confuse the match probability (the probability that a person that is chosen at random has a matching DNA profile to the sample from the scene) with the probability that a person with matching DNA committed the crime. In 1996 ''R v. Doheny''<ref>{{cite BAILII| litigants = R v. Doheny|court = EWCA| division = Crim| year = 1996| num = 728| parallelcite = [1997] 1 Cr App R 369| date = 31 July 1996| courtname = [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]]| juris =}}</ref>

Juries should weigh up conflicting and corroborative evidence, using their own common sense and not by using mathematical formulae, such as [[Bayes' theorem]], so as to avoid "confusion, misunderstanding and misjudgment".<ref>{{cite BAILII| litigants = R v. Adams| court = EWCA| division = Crim| year = 1997| num = 2474| date = 16 October 1997| courtname = [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]]}}</ref>

====Presentation and evaluation of evidence of partial or incomplete DNA profiles====
In ''R v Bates'',<ref>{{cite BAILII | litigants = R v Bates | link =  | country =  | court = EWCA | division = Crim | year = 2006 | num = 1395 | para =  | eucase =  | parallelcite =  | date = 7 July 2006 | courtname = [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]] | juris = }}</ref> Moore-Bick LJ said:

{{Blockquote|We can see no reason why partial profile DNA evidence should not be admissible provided that the jury are made aware of its inherent limitations and are given a sufficient explanation to enable them to evaluate it. There may be cases where the match probability in relation to all the samples tested is so great that the judge would consider its probative value to be minimal and decide to exclude the evidence in the exercise of his discretion, but this gives rise to no new question of principle and can be left for decision on a case by case basis. However, the fact that there exists in the case of all partial profile evidence the possibility that a "missing" allele might exculpate the accused altogether does not provide sufficient grounds for rejecting such evidence. In many there is a possibility (at least in theory) that evidence that would assist the accused and perhaps even exculpate him altogether exists, but that does not provide grounds for excluding relevant evidence that is available and otherwise admissible, though it does make it important to ensure that the jury are given sufficient information to enable them to evaluate that evidence properly.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wikicrimeline.co.uk/index.php?title=DNA_profiling#Presentation_and_evaluation_of_evidence_of_partial_or_incomplete_DNA_profiles |title=WikiCrimeLine DNA profiling |publisher=Wikicrimeline.co.uk |access-date=2010-04-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022013511/http://www.wikicrimeline.co.uk/index.php?title=DNA_profiling#Presentation_and_evaluation_of_evidence_of_partial_or_incomplete_DNA_profiles |archive-date=2010-10-22 }}</ref>}}

===DNA testing in the United States===
[[File:CBP chemist reads a DNA profile.jpg|thumb|[[U.S. Customs and Border Protection|CBP]] chemist reads a DNA profile to determine the origin of a commodity.]]
There are state laws on DNA profiling in all 50 [[U.S. state|states]] of the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.healthanddna.com/dna-learning/book-dna-testing.html |title=Genelex: The DNA Paternity Testing Site |publisher=Healthanddna.com |date=6 January 1996 |access-date=3 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229000534/http://www.healthanddna.com/dna-learning/book-dna-testing.html |archive-date=29 December 2010 }}</ref> Detailed information on database laws in each state can be found at the [[National Conference of State Legislatures]] website.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/dna-database-search-by-state.aspx |title=Forensic Science Database: Search By State |publisher=NCSL.org |access-date=21 March 2019 |archive-date=11 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111093741/http://www.ncsl.org/research/civil-and-criminal-justice/dna-database-search-by-state.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Development of artificial DNA===
In August 2009, scientists in [[Israel]] raised serious doubts concerning the use of DNA by law enforcement as the ultimate method of identification. In a paper published in the journal ''Forensic Science International: Genetics'', the Israeli researchers demonstrated that it is possible to manufacture DNA in a laboratory, thus falsifying DNA evidence. The scientists fabricated saliva and blood samples, which originally contained DNA from a person other than the supposed donor of the blood and saliva.<ref name="pollack">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18dna.html|work=The New York Times|title=DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Scientists Show| vauthors = Pollack A |date=18 August 2009|access-date=1 April 2010|archive-date=25 October 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211025192329/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18dna.html?_r=1|url-status=live}}</ref>

The researchers also showed that, using a DNA database, it is possible to take information from a profile and manufacture DNA to match it, and that this can be done without access to any actual DNA from the person whose DNA they are duplicating. The synthetic DNA [[Oligonucleotide|oligos]] required for the procedure are common in molecular laboratories.<ref name="pollack"/>

''[[The New York Times]]'' quoted the lead author, Daniel Frumkin, saying, "You can just engineer a crime scene ... any biology undergraduate could perform this".<ref name="pollack"/> Frumkin perfected a test that can differentiate real DNA samples from fake ones. His test detects [[epigenetics|epigenetic]] modifications, in particular, [[DNA methylation]].<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1186/s41935-018-0042-1|title = Crime investigation through DNA methylation analysis: Methods and applications in forensics| journal=Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences| volume=8|year = 2018| vauthors = Rana AK |doi-access = free}}</ref> Seventy percent of the DNA in any human genome is methylated, meaning it contains [[methyl group]] modifications within a [[CpG dinucleotide]] context. Methylation at the promoter region is associated with gene silencing. The synthetic DNA lacks this [[epigenetic]] modification, which allows the test to distinguish manufactured DNA from genuine DNA.<ref name="pollack"/>

It is unknown how many police departments, if any, currently use the test. No police lab has publicly announced that it is using the new test to verify DNA results.<ref name="frumkin">{{cite journal | vauthors = Frumkin D, Wasserstrom A, Davidson A, Grafit A | title = Authentication of forensic DNA samples | journal = Forensic Science International. Genetics | volume = 4 | issue = 2 | pages = 95–103 | date = February 2010 | pmid = 20129467 | doi = 10.1016/j.fsigen.2009.06.009 | url = http://www.fsigenetics.com/article/S1872-4973(09)00099-4/abstract | access-date = 3 April 2010 | url-status = live | citeseerx = 10.1.1.179.2718 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140819003826/http://www.fsigenetics.com/article/S1872-4973(09)00099-4/abstract | archive-date = 19 August 2014 }}</ref>

Researchers at the University of Tokyo integrated an artificial DNA replication scheme with a rebuilt gene expression system and micro-compartmentalization utilizing cell-free materials alone for the first time. Multiple cycles of serial dilution were performed on a system contained in microscale water-in-oil droplets.<ref name="frontlinegenomics.com">{{Cite web |last1=Genomics |first1=Front Line |last2=Mobley |first2=Immy |date=2021-11-22 |title=Is the use of artificial genomic DNA the future? - Front Line Genomics |url=https://frontlinegenomics.com/is-the-use-of-artificial-genomic-dna-the-future/ |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=Front Line Genomics - Delivering the Benefits of Genomics to Patients Faster |language=en}}</ref>

'''Chances of making DNA change on purpose'''

Overall, this study's artificial genomic DNA, which kept copying itself using self-encoded proteins and made its sequence better on its own, is a good starting point for making more complex artificial cells. By adding the genes needed for transcription and translation to artificial genomic DNA, it may be possible in the future to make artificial cells that can grow on their own when fed small molecules like amino acids and nucleotides. Using living organisms to make useful things, like drugs and food, would be more stable and easier to control in these artificial cells.<ref name="frontlinegenomics.com"/>

On July 7, 2008, the American chemical society reported that Japanese chemists have created the world's first DNA molecule comprised nearly completely of synthetic components.

'''A nano-particle based artificial transcription factor for gene regulation:'''

Nano Script is a nanoparticle-based artificial transcription factor that is supposed to replicate the structure and function of TFs. On gold nanoparticles, functional peptides and tiny molecules referred to as synthetic transcription factors, which imitate the various TF domains, were attached to create Nano Script. We show that Nano Script localizes to the nucleus and begins transcription of a reporter plasmid by an amount more than 15-fold. Moreover, Nano Script can successfully transcribe targeted genes onto endogenous DNA in a nonviral manner.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Patel |first1=Sahishnu |last2=Jung |first2=Dongju |last3=Yin |first3=Perry T. |last4=Carlton |first4=Peter |last5=Yamamoto |first5=Makoto |last6=Bando |first6=Toshikazu |last7=Sugiyama |first7=Hiroshi |last8=Lee |first8=Ki-Bum |date=2014-08-20 |title=NanoScript: A Nanoparticle-Based Artificial Transcription Factor for Effective Gene Regulation |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/nn501589f |journal=ACS Nano |volume=8 |issue=9 |pages=8959–8967 |doi=10.1021/nn501589f |pmid=25133310 |pmc=4174092 |issn=1936-0851}}</ref>

Three different fluorophores—red, green, and blue—were carefully fixed on the DNA rod surface to provide spatial information and create a nanoscale barcode. Epifluorescence and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy reliably deciphered spatial information between fluorophores. By moving the three fluorophores on the DNA rod, this nanoscale barcode created 216 fluorescence patterns.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Qi |first1=Hao |last2=Huang |first2=Guoyou |last3=Han |first3=Yulong |last4=Zhang |first4=Xiaohui |last5=Li |first5=Yuhui |last6=Pingguan-Murphy |first6=Belinda |last7=Lu |first7=Tian Jian |last8=Xu |first8=Feng |last9=Wang |first9=Lin |date=2015-06-01 |title=Engineering Artificial Machines from Designable DNA Materials for Biomedical Applications |journal=Tissue Engineering. Part B, Reviews |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=288–297 |doi=10.1089/ten.teb.2014.0494 |issn=1937-3368 |pmc=4442581 |pmid=25547514}}</ref>

===Cases===
* In 1986, Richard Buckland was [[exoneration|exonerated]], despite having admitted to the [[rape]] and [[murder]] of a teenager near [[Leicester]], the city where DNA profiling was first developed. This was the first use of DNA fingerprinting in a criminal investigation, and the first to prove a suspect's innocence.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8245312.stm|work=BBC News|title=DNA pioneer's 'eureka' moment|date=9 September 2009|access-date=1 April 2010|archive-date=22 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822224619/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8245312.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> The following year [[Colin Pitchfork]] was identified as the perpetrator of the same murder, in addition to another, using the same techniques that had cleared Buckland.<ref>Joseph Wambaugh, ''The Blooding'' (New York, New York: A Perigord Press Book, 1989), 369.</ref>
* In 1987, genetic fingerprinting was used in a US criminal court for the first time in the trial of a man accused of [[statutory rape|unlawful intercourse]] with a mentally disabled 14-year-old female who gave birth to a baby.<ref>Joseph Wambaugh, The Blooding (New York, New York: A Perigord Press Book, 1989), 316.</ref>
* In 1987, [[Florida]] rapist Tommie Lee Andrews was the first person in the United States to be convicted as a result of DNA evidence, for raping a woman during a [[burglary]]; he was convicted on 6 November 1987, and sentenced to 22 years in prison.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.txtwriter.com/Backgrounders/Genetech/GEpage14.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021127041646/http://txtwriter.com/Backgrounders/Genetech/GEpage14.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 November 2002 |title=Gene Technology |page =14 |publisher=Txtwriter.com |date=6 November 1987 |access-date=3 April 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/case/revolution/databases.html |title=frontline: the case for innocence: the dna revolution: state and federal dna database laws examined |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=3 April 2010 |archive-date=19 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319081203/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/case/revolution/databases.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In 1990, a violent murder of a young student in [[Brno]] was the first criminal case in [[Czechoslovakia]] solved by DNA evidence, with the murderer sentenced to 23 years in prison.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dvojka.rozhlas.cz/jak-usvedcit-vraha-omilostneneho-prezidentem-6942979|title=Jak usvědčit vraha omilostněného prezidentem?|publisher=[[Czech Radio]]|date=29 January 2020|language=cs|access-date=24 August 2020|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411163244/https://dvojka.rozhlas.cz/jak-usvedcit-vraha-omilostneneho-prezidentem-6942979|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kriminalistika.eu/muzeumzla/lubas/lubas_a.html|title=Milan Lubas – a sex aggressor and murderer|publisher=Kriminalistika.eu| vauthors = Jedlička M |translator-last=Vršovský|translator-first=Pavel | name-list-style = vanc |access-date=24 August 2020|archive-date=30 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230041021/http://kriminalistika.eu/muzeumzla/lubas/lubas_a.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 1992, DNA from a [[Parkinsonia florida|palo verde tree]] was used to convict Mark Alan Bogan of murder. DNA from seed pods of a tree at the crime scene was found to match that of seed pods found in Bogan's truck.  This is the first instance of plant DNA admitted in a criminal case.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.denverda.org/DNA_Documents/bogan.pdf |title=Court of Appeals of Arizona: Denial of Bogan's motion to reverse his conviction and sentence |date=11 April 2005 |access-date=21 April 2011 |publisher=Denver DA: www.denverda.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724114850/http://www.denverda.org/DNA_Documents/bogan.pdf |archive-date=24 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/forensics.shtml |title=DNA Forensics: Angiosperm Witness for the Prosecution |publisher=Human Genome Project |access-date=21 April 2011 |archive-date=29 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429210652/http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/forensics.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="bogan_botany_org">{{cite web|url=http://www.botany.org/PlantTalkingPoints/crime.php |title=Crime Scene Botanicals |publisher=Botanical Society of America |access-date=21 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222025353/http://www.botany.org/PlantTalkingPoints/crime.php |archive-date=22 December 2008 }}</ref>
* In 1994, the claim that [[Anna Anderson]] was [[Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia]] was tested after her death using samples of her tissue that had been stored at a [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]] hospital following a medical procedure. The tissue was tested using DNA fingerprinting, and showed that she bore no relation to the [[Romanovs]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Gill P, Ivanov PL, Kimpton C, Piercy R, Benson N, Tully G, Evett I, Hagelberg E, Sullivan K | display-authors = 6 | title = Identification of the remains of the Romanov family by DNA analysis. | journal = Nature Genetics | date = February 1994 | volume = 6 | issue = 2 | pages = 130–135 | doi = 10.1038/ng0294-130 | pmid = 8162066 | s2cid = 33557869 }}</ref>
* In 1994, [[Earl Washington, Jr.]], of Virginia had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment a week before his scheduled execution date based on DNA evidence. He received a full pardon in 2000 based on more advanced testing.<ref name = DNA>{{cite web | vauthors = Murnaghan I | date = 28 December 2012 | url = http://www.exploredna.co.uk/famous-trials-dna-testing.html | title = Famous Trials and DNA Testing; Earl Washington Jr. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141103143154/http://www.exploredna.co.uk/famous-trials-dna-testing.html | archive-date=3 November 2014 | work = Explore DNA | access-date = 13 November 2014 }}</ref>
* In 1999, Raymond Easton, a disabled man from [[Swindon]], England, was arrested and detained for seven hours in connection with a burglary. He was released due to an inaccurate DNA match. His DNA had been retained on file after an unrelated domestic incident some time previously.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,,1933724,00.html|title=Suspect Nation|newspaper=The Guardian|date=8 October 2006|location=London| vauthors = Jeffries S |access-date=1 April 2010|archive-date=25 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025192317/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/oct/28/comment.ukcrime|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2000 Frank Lee Smith was proved innocent by DNA profiling of the murder of an eight-year-old girl after spending 14 years on death row in Florida, USA. However he had died of [[cancer]] just before his innocence was proven.<ref>{{cite web | date = June 2012 | url = http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3644 | title = Frank Lee Smith | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141129015535/http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3644 | archive-date=29 November 2014 | work = The University of Michigan Law School, National Registry of Exonerations | access-date = 13 November 2014 }}</ref> In view of this the Florida state governor ordered that in future any death row inmate claiming innocence should have DNA testing.<ref name = DNA/>
* In May 2000 Gordon Graham murdered Paul Gault at his home in [[Lisburn]], Northern Ireland. Graham was convicted of the murder when his DNA was found on a sports bag left in the house as part of an elaborate ploy to suggest the murder occurred after a burglary had gone wrong. Graham was having an affair with the victim's wife at the time of the murder. It was the first time Low Copy Number DNA was used in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/freedom-in-bag-for-killer-graham-13906320.html |title=Freedom in bag for killer Graham? | vauthors = Stephen G |publisher=Belfasttelegraph.co.uk |date=17 February 2008 |access-date=19 June 2010 |archive-date=17 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017031920/http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/freedom-in-bag-for-killer-graham-13906320.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In 2001, Wayne Butler was convicted for the [[murder of Celia Douty]]. It was the first murder in [[Australia]] to be solved using DNA profiling.<ref name="telegraphuk">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/1322624/18-years-on%2C-man-is-jailed-for-murder-of-Briton-in-%27paradise%27.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207054945/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/1322624/18-years-on%2C-man-is-jailed-for-murder-of-Briton-in-%27paradise%27.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 December 2008 |title=18 years on, man is jailed for murder of Briton in 'paradise' | vauthors = Dutter B |date=19 June 2001 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|access-date=17 June 2008|location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2004/s1195029.htm |title=DNA evidence may not be infallible: experts | vauthors = McCutcheon P |date=8 September 2004 |publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |access-date=17 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211012018/http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2004/s1195029.htm |archive-date=11 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* In 2002, the body of [[James Hanratty]], hanged in 1962 for the "A6 murder", was exhumed and DNA samples from the body and members of his family were analysed.  The results convinced [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]] judges that Hanratty's guilt, which had been strenuously disputed by campaigners, was proved "beyond doubt".<ref>Joshua Rozenberg,[https://archive.today/20130505121050/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1393842/DNA-proves-Hanratty-guilt-%27beyond-doubt%27.html "DNA proves Hanratty guilt 'beyond doubt{{'"}}], ''Daily Telegraph'', London, 11 May 2002.</ref> Paul Foot and some other campaigners continued to believe in Hanratty's innocence and argued that the DNA evidence could have been contaminated, noting that the small DNA samples from items of clothing, kept in a police laboratory for over 40 years "in conditions that do not satisfy modern evidential standards", had had to be subjected to very new amplification techniques in order to yield any genetic profile.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Steele | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1315138/Hanratty-lawyers-reject-DNA-guilt.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181011114606/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1315138/Hanratty-lawyers-reject-DNA-guilt.html | archive-date = 11 October 2018 | title = Hanratty lawyers reject DNA 'guilt' | work = Daily Telegraph | location = London, UK | date = 23 June 2001 }}</ref> However, no DNA other than Hanratty's was found on the evidence tested, contrary to what would have been expected had the evidence indeed been contaminated.<ref>{{cite news | journal=BBC News | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1980731.stm | date=10 May 2002 | title=Hanratty: The damning DNA | access-date=22 August 2011 | archive-date=28 February 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228084558/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/1980731.stm | url-status=live }}</ref>
* In August 2002, Annalisa Vicentini was shot dead in [[Tuscany]]. Bartender Peter Hamkin, 23, was arrested, in [[Merseyside]] in March 2003 on an extradition warrant heard at [[Bow Street Magistrates' Court]] in [[London]] to establish whether he should be taken to [[Italy]] to face a murder charge. DNA "proved" he shot her, but he was cleared on other evidence.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2766289.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |title=Mistaken identity claim over murder |date=15 February 2003 |access-date=1 April 2010 |archive-date=21 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821220626/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2766289.stm |url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2003, Welshman Jeffrey Gafoor was convicted of the 1988 [[murder of Lynette White]], when crime scene evidence collected 12 years earlier was re-examined using [[Short tandem repeat|STR]] techniques, resulting in a match with his nephew.<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Sekar S |url=http://lifeloom.com/I2Sekar.htm |title=Lynette White Case: How Forensics Caught the Cellophane Man |publisher=Lifeloom.com |access-date=3 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125075217/http://lifeloom.com/I2Sekar.htm |archive-date=25 November 2010 }}</ref>
* In June 2003, because of new DNA evidence, Dennis Halstead, John Kogut and John Restivo won a re-trial on their murder conviction, their convictions were struck down and they were released.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3273 | title = Dennis Halstead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402131508/http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=3273 | archive-date=2 April 2015 | work = The National Registry of Exonerations, University of Michigan Law School | date = 18 April 2014 | access-date = 12 January 2015 }}</ref>
* In 2004, DNA testing shed new light into the mysterious 1912 [[disappearance of Bobby Dunbar]], a four-year-old boy who vanished during a fishing trip. He was allegedly found alive eight months later in the custody of William Cantwell Walters, but another woman claimed that the boy was her son, Bruce Anderson, whom she had entrusted in Walters' custody. The courts disbelieved her claim and convicted Walters for the [[kidnapping]]. The boy was raised and known as Bobby Dunbar throughout the rest of his life. However, DNA tests on Dunbar's son and nephew revealed the two were not related, thus establishing that the boy found in 1912 was not Bobby Dunbar, whose real fate remains unknown.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-05-05-1914-dna_x.htm | title = DNA clears man of 1914 kidnapping conviction | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120914031557/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-05-05-1914-dna_x.htm | archive-date=14 September 2012 | work = [[USA Today]] | date = 5 May 2004 | vauthors = Breed AG | agency = [[Associated Press]] }}</ref>
* In 2005, Gary Leiterman was convicted of the 1969 murder of Jane Mixer, a law student at the [[University of Michigan]], after DNA found on Mixer's [[pantyhose]] was matched to Leiterman. DNA in a drop of blood on Mixer's hand was matched to John Ruelas, who was only four years old in 1969 and was never successfully connected to the case in any other way. Leiterman's defense unsuccessfully argued that the unexplained match of the blood spot to Ruelas pointed to cross-contamination and raised doubts about the reliability of the lab's identification of Leiterman.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/22/48hours/main1066064.shtml | work = CBS News | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080917143412/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/22/48hours/main1066064.shtml | archive-date=17 September 2008 | title = Jane Mixer murder case | access-date = 24 March 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.garyisinnocent.org/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161222081440/http://www.garyisinnocent.org/ | archive-date=22 December 2016 | title = challenging Leiterman's conviction in the Mixer murder | work = www.garyisinnocent.org }}</ref>
* In November 2008, [[Anthony Curcio]] was arrested for masterminding one of the most elaborately planned armored car heists in history.  DNA evidence linked Curcio to the crime.<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Doughery P |title=D.B. Tuber |url= http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8829|publisher=History Link|access-date=30 November 2014|archive-date=5 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205044421/http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8829|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In March 2009, [[Sean Hodgson]]—convicted of 1979 killing of [[Murder of Teresa De Simone|Teresa De Simone]], 22, in her car in [[Southampton]]—was released after tests proved DNA from the scene was not his. It was later matched to DNA retrieved from the exhumed body of David Lace. Lace had previously confessed to the crime but was not believed by the [[detective]]s. He served time in prison for other crimes committed at the same time as the murder and then committed [[suicide]] in 1988.<ref>{{cite news| vauthors = Booth J |title=Police name David Lace as true killer of Teresa De Simone|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6838034.ece|website=The Times|access-date=20 November 2015|archive-date=25 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025192335/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In 2012, a case of babies being switched, many decades earlier, was discovered by accident. After undertaking DNA testing for other purposes, Alice Collins Plebuch was advised that her ancestry appeared to include a significant [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazi Jewish]] component, despite a belief in her family that they were of predominantly [[Irish people|Irish descent]]. Profiling of Plebuch's genome suggested that it included distinct and unexpected components associated with Ashkenazi, [[Middle East]]ern, and [[Eastern Europe]]an populations. This led Plebuch to conduct an extensive investigation, after which she concluded that her father had been switched (possibly accidentally) with another baby soon after birth. Plebuch was also able to identify the biological ancestors of her father.<ref>{{cite news|title=Who Was She? A DNA Test Opened Up New Mysteries|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/lifestyle/she-thought-she-was-irish-until-a-dna-test-opened-a-100-year-old-mystery/|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=9 April 2018|archive-date=6 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180606115708/https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/lifestyle/she-thought-she-was-irish-until-a-dna-test-opened-a-100-year-old-mystery/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=I thought I was Irish – until I did a DNA test|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/i-thought-i-was-irish-until-i-did-a-dna-test-1.3174491|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=9 April 2018|archive-date=9 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409235124/https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/i-thought-i-was-irish-until-i-did-a-dna-test-1.3174491|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2016 Anthea Ring, abandoned as a baby, was able to use a DNA sample and DNA matching database to discover her deceased mother's identity and roots in [[County Mayo]], Ireland. A recently developed forensic test was subsequently used to capture DNA from saliva left on old stamps and envelopes by her suspected father, uncovered through painstaking genealogy research. The DNA in the first three samples was too degraded to use. However, on the fourth, more than enough DNA was found. The test, which has a degree of accuracy acceptable in UK courts, proved that a man named Patrick Coyne was her biological father.<ref>{{cite news|title=Who were my parents – and why was I left on a hillside to die?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-43420678|website=BBC News|access-date=21 July 2018|archive-date=18 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518132351/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-43420678|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livingdna.com/blog/306/living-dna-provide-closure-lifetime-search-biological-father|title=Living DNA provide closure on lifetime search for biological father|date=19 March 2018|website=Living DNA|access-date=9 April 2018|archive-date=10 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410071928/https://www.livingdna.com/blog/306/living-dna-provide-closure-lifetime-search-biological-father|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2018 [[Murder of Marcia King|the Buckskin girl]] (a body found in 1981 in [[Ohio]]) was identified as Marcia King from [[Arkansas]] using DNA genealogical techniques<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/buckskin-girl-case-groundbreaking-dna-tech-leads-to-id-of-1981-murder-victim/|title="Buckskin Girl" case: DNA breakthrough leads to ID of 1981 murder victim|date=12 April 2018|work=CBS News|access-date=19 May 2018|language=en|archive-date=22 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622234027/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/buckskin-girl-case-groundbreaking-dna-tech-leads-to-id-of-1981-murder-victim/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2018 [[Joseph James DeAngelo]] was arrested as the main suspect for the [[Joseph James DeAngelo|Golden State Killer]] using DNA and genealogy techniques.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/golden-state-killer-east-area-rapist-dna-genealogy/559070/|title=How a Genealogy Website Led to the Alleged Golden State Killer| vauthors = Zhang S |date=17 April 2018|work=The Atlantic|access-date=19 May 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=28 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180428000106/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/golden-state-killer-east-area-rapist-dna-genealogy/559070/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2018, William Earl Talbott II was arrested as a suspect for the 1987 [[murders of Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg]] with the assistance of [[genealogical DNA test]]ing. The same [[genetic genealogy|genetic genealogist]] that helped in this case also helped police with 18 other arrests in 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-to-solve-cold-cases-all-it-takes-is-dna-a-genealogy-site-and-high-speed-internet-1.6657176|title=To Solve Cold Cases, All It Takes Is Crime Scene DNA, a Genealogy Site and High-speed Internet| vauthors = Michaeli Y |date=16 November 2018|work=Haaretz|access-date=6 December 2018|language=en|archive-date=6 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206021208/https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-to-solve-cold-cases-all-it-takes-is-dna-a-genealogy-site-and-high-speed-internet-1.6657176|url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2018, with the use of Next Generation Identification System's enhanced biometric capabilities, the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] matched the [[fingerprint]] of a suspect named Timothy David Nelson and arrested him 20 years after the alleged [[sexual assault]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fingerprint Technology Helps Solve Cold Case |url=https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/fingerprint-technology-helps-solve-cold-case-091319 |access-date=2022-09-18 |website=Federal Bureau of Investigation |language=en-us}}</ref>