Genetics and Society - Essay Example

This number will surely rise after the Supreme Court ruling in the Maryland v. King hearing. The court stated that law enforcers are allowed to collect DNA from people who are arrested but not charged or find guilty of any crime. DNA databases are employed to help in identifying, tracking, cataloging, apprehending and the subsequent prosecution of crime perpetrators. Currently, international and national law enforcement agencies freely exchange DNA profiles that are collected from crime scenes to reveal serial perpetrators.

These profiles are later used to solve crimes around the world (DNA analysis, 2003). By the year 2010, the United States of America had collected 7.8 million DNA samples to have the biggest database in the world. They also had three hundred thousand forensic profiles. The country with the second most extensive DNA profiles is the United Kingdom with five million profiles. In the United States, California has 1.2 million offender DNA profiles; they boast the third biggest database in the world (Dnaforensics.com, 2015).

Every cell in our bodies contains DNA and people leave cells behind without even knowing it. Some of the most ordinary bits that people leave around are blood drops, skin flakes, saliva and even hair; all these contain DNA that can be used to identify us. DNA forensics is heavily dependent on these small DNA bits that are later studied and tested to link criminals to committed crimes. It is a fascinating science that is commonly portrayed as simple, fallible, and an exact method of revealing the perpetrators and bringing them to justice by television shows.

In the real world, testing the DNA samples collected from a crime scene, for example; a fingerprint and determining a match between a suspect and a crime is a complicated process. Such a process relies heavily on probability than most people realize (Forensicsciencecentral.co.uk, 2015). The