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| To Sketch a Thief: Genes Draw Likeness of Suspects |
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The old-fashioned police sketch is getting a makeover. Researchers are identifying genes that give rise to a person's physical traits, such as facial structure, skin color or even whether they are right- or left-handed. That could allow police to build a picture of what a criminal looks like not just from sometimes-fuzzy eyewitness accounts, but by analyzing DNA found at a crime scene. Forensic experts are increasingly relying on DNA as "a genetic eyewitness," says Jack Ballantyne, associate director for research at the National Center for Forensic Science at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, who is studying whether a DNA sample can reveal a person's age. "We'd like to say if the DNA found on a bomb fragment comes from the young man who carried the bomb or from the wizened old mastermind who built it." The push to predict physical features from genetic material is known as DNA forensic phenotyping, and it's already helped crack some difficult investigations. In 2004, police caught a Louisiana serial killer who eyewitnesses had suggested was white, but whose crime-scene DNA suggested—correctly—that he was black. Britain's forensic service uses a similar "ethnic inference" test to trace murderers and rapists. To Sketch a Thief: Genes Draw Likeness of Suspects. By Gautam Naik. Wall Street Journal. March 27, 2009. Available: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123810863649052551.html
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| How can you participate? To help examine the potential benefits and problems associated with using genetic identification technologies in law enforcement, the Forensic DNA Ethics project is actively seeking the participation ... |
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If you know of a case in which forensic DNA phenotyping was used other than those included on our site, please tell us about it! |
| Surveys We have an active program of surveys designed to gather data on current practices in forensic science education and law enforcement. Many of these surveys are by invitation only, although public ... |
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resources
| Cases OverviewCases Overview It is not known how often law enforcement agencies have turned to FDP as part of an attempt to identify an unknown suspect or victim; some reports claim that the method has been used in several hundre ... |
| Laws Overview Is forensic DNA phenotyping regulated?
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| Research Overview We are collecting references for papers, reports, conference presentations, or abstracts that report findings relevant to FDP. Our intent is to periodically publish an annotated bibliography that trac ... |