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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Crime Johnnie Cochran Was Right!

Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 5:07 PM

Oh, science, will you ever stop amazing and terrifying me?

From the NY Times:

Scientists in Israel have demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate DNA evidence, undermining the credibility of what has been considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases.

The scientists fabricated blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor of the blood and saliva. They also showed that if they had access to a DNA profile in a database, they could construct a sample of DNA to match that profile without obtaining any tissue from that person.

“You can just engineer a crime scene,” said Dan Frumkin, lead author of the paper, which has been published online by the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics. “Any biology undergraduate could perform this.”

According to King County Prosecutor's office spokesman Ian Goodhew, staff in the prosecutor's office are already forwarding around this story as, Goodhew says, the viability of DNA evidence "could effect a fair number of serious cases." However, Goodhew says, ultimately it's up to prosecutors to "argue to a jury why they should accept [DNA] evidence they as reliable."

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According to King County Prosecutor's office spokesman Ian Goodhew, staff in the prosecutor's office are already forwarding around this story as, Goodhew says, the viability of DNA evidence "could effect a fair number of serious cases."

Because in those "fair number of serious cases", the perpetrators were framed by an unscrupulous and sophisticated genetics laboratory? I'd be very interested in hearing which cases could be affected by this.

Posted by demo kid

on August 18, 2009 at 5:31 PM

Soon, we'll have black-market crime robots breaking into important people's homes, committing bizarre assassinations, fabricating DNA evidence, and then escaping by transforming into an iPod or something innocuous.

So let's review:
Biometrics are fakable. DNA evidence is fabricateable. Identity is theivable. Robots are already armed with weaponry. RFID scanners can tell how much money we have in our pocket. People are implanting webcams in their eye sockets. Cellphones track us. Every electronic transaction of any kind is traceable. And carbon nanotubes are the new black.

Next up: Money will be made illegal.

Posted by treacle on August 18, 2009 at 5:34 PM

This is just an excuse to avoid setting free all the innocent people kept in jail on death row who never committed the actual crimes they were sentenced for.

Even if it is true.

JUSTICE. You can't undo the death penalty, and half the people we execute turn out to be innocent.

Posted by Will in Seattle