Support For A Dna Data Bank Essays - DNA, Molecular Biology

support for a dna data bank A DNA Bank Is Good For All Imagine that a convicted child molester is released from jail and that he is now traveling around the country looking for work. One day this criminal returns to his old ways and he attacks a young child whose dead body is found in a deserted field the following day. The only trace of evidence at the crime scene is a semen specimen on the boys clothes. Now this specimen could be useful if the police tracked down, and arrested the suspect, and then took a blood sample of his that matched the crime scene specimen. But, since no other clues are found this criminal was never arrested and for the next couple years he repeated this act many more times. It is a shame that innocent children had to die because of this sick man, and most people would agree criminals like this should be stopped at any cost. Now just think what would have happened had their been a DNA data bank that contained this man To understand why a DNA data bank is necessary it is important to know exactly what DNA is. Firstly, there are cells which makes up all organisms and inside these cells are chromosomes. Chromosomes, which are made up of DNA, contain all the hereditary information that an individual has. Now this DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) which makes up these chromosomes simply contains the blueprints of the organism. It is DNA which determines what, where, and when to make a certain protein, and it basically is the storage center for information in almost all creatures. This knowledge of DNA is important because now it is possible to show the correlation between DNA and forensic technology. There are many reasons why DNA is such a useful tool for law enforcement. One important feature of DNA, relates to the fact that all individuals have unique DNA, is that each cell in an organism has identical DNA. Whether it is found in in skin cells, hair cells, semen cells, or blood cells the DNA found in one cell is identical to the DNA found in all other cells in the body Another extremely crucial characteristic of DNA is that everyone has their own unique DNA. Since humans in general are basically alike in that we all have legs, arms, hearts brain it is obvious that most DNA is identical. The key though to identifying individuals through DNA is not through the strands of DNA that have a known function, rather it is the DNA that has no known function. Inside these strands of DNA with no known function, called Junk DNA, are different repetitive DNA patterns which are unique from person to person. This is why DNA can always, be traced back to one person (with the exception of identical twins). There are two tests for analyzing DNA for forensic use, Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The RFLP test consists of taking a sample of body tissue which contains DNA. After locating the DNA thousands of different combinations of DNA repeats called Variable Number of Tandem Repeats (VNTR) are examined. These VNTR There are a great number of reasons to have a DNA data bank, but first it is important to accurately describe the requirements for this DNA data bank. Only convicted criminals would be entered into the bank. Also, only Junk DNA would be kept as data, DNA that contains no personal or hereditary information. One advantage to a data bank will be the quick access to information. Prosecutors are going to be able to match the DNA collected at a crime scene with DNA that has already been collected in the bank and this will allow them to apply for a warrant faster. Take the case of Jean Ann Broderick. In 1991 she was found murdered and raped in her Minnesota apartment. There were no witnesses or evidence that led to any one suspect. The only lead at the crime scene was a semen stain on the victim. Minnesota at this time was one of the few states that had and used a DNA data bank of convicted criminals, so the Minnesota authorities checked their sample DNA with the DNA data bank and found a match that linked the DNA with Martin Perez, a 37 year old illegal alien. After Perez was identified by the DNA, he was also identified by witnesses, who saw him at Jean Ann BroderickAnother advantage of having a DNA data bank is that it