DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid, a nucleic acid that consists of two long chains of nucleotides twisted together into a double twirl and joined by hydrogen bonds between opposite bases adenine and thymine or cytosine and guanine; it carries the cell’s genetic information and hereditary characteristics via its nucleotides and their sequence and is capable of self-replication and genetic material mixture (www.dictionary.com).
Both of the egg and sperm hold DNA. Each child receives 23 chromosomes from its mother and 23 from its father, so that’s a total of 46 chromosomes. Every cell carries a blueprint of DNA. A molecule of DNA holds coded plans for thousands of proteins and the length of the strand is called a gene. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Basically DNA is fully composed of proteins. Each person has a unique DNA pattern that can be determined by testing tissue such as hair or body fluids. DNA tests use those unique patterns to determine whether a person is linked to hair, teeth, bones, nails or body fluids found at a crime scene.
The Canadian police community had called for the creation of a DNA data bank to assist police investigations. The government responded by assenting to the DNA Identification Act on December 10, 1998. This legislation allowed a DNA data bank to be created and amended the Criminal Code to provide a method for a judge to order persons convicted of designated offences to provide blood, or hair samples from which DNA profiles will be derived. The legislation became official on June 30, 2000.
The Term Paper on Dna The Making Amino Acid
DNA: The Making Lyle Sykes For more than 50 years after the science of genetics was established and the patterns of inheritance through genes were clarified, the largest questions remained unanswered: How are the chromosomes and their genes copied so exactly from cell to cell, and how do they direct the structure and behavior of living things? This paper will discuss those questions and the people ...
Forensic science uses techniques developed in DNA research to identify individuals who have committed crimes. DNA from semen, skin, or blood taken from the crime scene can be compared with the DNA of a suspect, and the results can hold important information that can put a criminal in prison, DNA doesn’t lie. The chemical structure of everyone’s DNA is the same. Every persons DNA is different because is the order of the base pairs. There are so many millions of base pairs in each person’s DNA that every person has a different sequence. Using these sequences, every person could be identified solely by the sequence of their base pairs.
DNA identification can be quite effective if used intelligently. Portions of the DNA sequence that vary the most among humans must be used; also, portions must be large enough to overcome the fact that human mating is not absolutely random. DNA can be valuable in proving a suspect’s innocence, in identifying missing persons and in slowing drug trafficking. It is also known as the best form of cracking serial cases.
Consider the scenario of a crime scene investigation; assume that type O blood is found at the crime scene. Type O occurs in about 45% of Canadians. If investigators type only for ABO, then finding that the “suspect” in a crime is type O really doesn’t reveal very much. If, in addition to being type O, the suspect is a blond, and blond hair is found at the crime scene, then you now have two bits of evidence to suggest who really did it. However, there are a lot of Type O blonds out there. If you find that the crime scene has footprints from a pair of Nike Air Jordan’s (with a distinctive tread design) and the suspect, in addition to being type O and blond, is also wearing Air Jordan’s with the same tread design, then you are much closer to linking the suspect with the crime scene. In this way, by accumulating bits of linking evidence in a chain, where each bit by itself isn’t very strong but the set of all of them together is very strong, you can argue that your suspect really is the right person.
The Term Paper on Computer Crime Psychological Hackers Type Criminals
Psychological Profiling of Computer Crime The psychological analysis of computer criminals is a start for preventing further computer crime related activity. Learning to identify personal characteristics of hackers will help to measure the threat they " ll have on a computers security software. There are many classifications which hackers fit into that define their capabilities. With this data ...
With DNA, the same kind of thinking is used; you can look for matches (based on sequence or on numbers of small repeating units of DNA sequence) at a number of different locations on the person’s genome; one or two (even three) aren’t enough to be confident that the suspect is the right one, but four (sometimes five) are used and a match at all five is rare enough that you (or a prosecutor or a jury) can be very confident (“beyond a reasonable doubt”) that the right person is accused.
It is evident from this analysis that DNA evidence is rarely crucial at the trial. The main value of DNA profiling is in the earlier stages of an investigation, before the trial. It is a powerful investigative tool for excluding people falsely suspected of involvement in a crime.
Works Cited
Jason Grati “BCCLA Position Paper: DNA Matching for criminal identification purposes” 2005.November 18, 2005 <http://www.bccla.org/positions/privacy/94dna.html>
Canada Border Services Agency “PSEPC: Home: Programs: Corrections: Protection against high-risk offenders.” 2005. November 19.2005 < http://www.psepc-sppcc.gc.ca/prg/cor/tls/dna-en.asp>
