Editing Alec Jeffreys (section)

===DNA profiling===
[[DNA profiling]], based on typing individual highly variable [[minisatellite]]s in the [[human genome]], was also developed by Alec Jeffreys and his team in 1985,<ref>{{Cite journal 
|last1 = Jeffreys | first1 = A. 
|last2 = Wilson | first2 = V. 
|last3 = Thein | first3 = S. 
|title = Hypervariable 'minisatellite' regions in human DNA 
|journal = Nature 
|volume = 314 
|issue = 6006 
|pages = 67–73 
|year = 1985 
|pmid = 3856104
|doi=10.1038/314067a0
| bibcode = 1985Natur.314...67J 
| s2cid = 4356170 
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal 
|last1 = Jeffreys | first1 = A. 
|last2 = Wilson | first2 = V. 
|last3 = Thein | first3 = S. 
|title = Individual-specific 'fingerprints' of human DNA 
|journal = Nature 
|volume = 316 
|issue = 6023 
|pages = 76–79 
|year = 1985
|pmid = 2989708
|doi=10.1038/316076a0
 | bibcode = 1985Natur.316...76J
| s2cid = 4229883 
|doi-access = free 
}}</ref> with the term (DNA fingerprinting) being retained for the initial test that types many [[minisatellite]]s simultaneously. By focusing on just a few of these highly variable minisatellites, DNA profiling made the system more sensitive, more reproducible and amenable to computer databases. It soon became the standard forensic DNA system used in criminal case work and [[paternity testing]] worldwide.

The development of DNA amplification by the [[polymerase chain reaction]] (PCR) opened up new approaches to forensic DNA testing, allowing automation, greatly increased sensitivity, and a move to alternative marker systems. The most commonly used markers are now variable [[microsatellite]]s, also known as [[short tandem repeat]]s (STRs), which Jeffreys first exploited in 1990 in the [[Joseph Mengele|Mengele]] case.<ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Jeffreys | first1 = A. 
| last2 = Allen | first2 = M. 
| last3 = Hagelberg | first3 = E. |author-link3=Erika Hagelberg
| last4 = Sonnberg | first4 = A. 
| title = Identification of the skeletal remains of Josef Mengele by DNA analysis 
| journal = Forensic Science International 
| volume = 56 
| issue = 1 
| pages = 65–76 
| year = 1992 
| pmid = 1398379 | doi=10.1016/0379-0738(92)90148-P
}}</ref> STR profiling was further refined by a team of scientists led by Peter Gill at the Forensic Science Service in the 1990s, allowing the launch of the [[UK National DNA Database]] (NDNAD) in 1995.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}} With highly automated and sophisticated equipment, modern-day DNA profiling can process hundreds of samples each day. Sixteen microsatellites, plus a marker for sex determination, are used with the current system developed for the NDNAD, giving a discrimination power of one in over a billion. Under British law, anyone arrested in England, Wales or Northern Ireland has their DNA profile taken and stored on the database whether or not they are convicted (different rules apply in Scotland).<ref name="DNA and Crime Investigation: Scotland and the UK National DNA Database"/> The national database in 2020 contained the DNA information of about 5.6 million people.<ref>{{Cite book|date=September 2020|title=National DNA Database Strategy Board Biennial Report 2018 – 2020|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/913015/NDNAD_Strategy_Board_AR_2018-2020_print.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810222405/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/913015/NDNAD_Strategy_Board_AR_2018-2020_print.pdf |archive-date=2022-08-10 |url-status=live|access-date=6 November 2020|website=UK Home Office|publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office|page=10|isbn=978-1-5286-1916-5}}</ref> Jeffreys has opposed the current use of DNA profiling, where the government has access to that database,<ref name="The informer in your blood"/> and has instead proposed a database of all people's DNA, access to which would be controlled by an independent third party.<ref name="Privacy fears over DNA database"/>