DNA Testing and the Conviction of Criminals Essay

DNA Testing and the Conviction of Criminals There have been many incidents where cases have needed a solid prosecution in order to convict the defendant in a murder or rape case. This is where DNA Testing comes in to help. By taking a DNA test, a person can be found guilty or not guilty. If a person claims they have been raped there can be a sperm sample taken from the suspect in order to prove that he is guilty or not. In addition, in a murder case there can be blood taken from the suspect so they can tell of his innocence. There are several ways to determine whether a person is guilty or not by this method. Many cases have begun to use this method saying that it is foolproof. People say this is the method of the future of crime†¦show more content†¦So you ask, How does this work to catch or release criminals? DNA is very simple and small. Everyone has different patterns. Using certain machinery to detect a persons DNA solves these patterns. This evidence will create a future in crime scene investigation. At the University of Texas in Austin, there is a DNA facility, which maps DNA. They have several machines that are used to detect DNA. One of these machines is the ABI Prism 3700, which is a DNA analyzer that can analyze up to ninety-six samples of DNA. This can then run for twenty-fours without being attended to for operation (Harkey, 2002). Another machine that is used is the Molecular Dynamics Fluorimager FSI. This device is a quantitative gel and blot system in order for scientists to read. This labels the DNA and proteins on micro plates. A laser scans the DNA a then provides an image for studying the DNA (Harkey, 2002). In Time Magazine an article states On February 28 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick broke the DNA code and discovered that the DNA strand is double helix and forms like a ladder. They found that cytosine and guanine were paired together and that adenine and thymine were paired. 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