Beyond the CSI effect: The keys to good forensic genetics communication

Authors

  • Ángel Carracedo University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain).
  • Lourdes Prieto Institute of Forensic Science of the the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.9.10628

Keywords:

forensic genetics, DNA fingerprint, criminalistics, DNA, genetic polymorphism

Abstract

Forensic genetics brings together all the genetic knowledge required to solve specific legal problems. In recent decades new techniques have shown the potential of DNA as a profiling system. These advances have arrived hand in hand with other improvements in terms of communication of test results, with the introduction of statistical evaluation. In the collective imagination, nourished by TV series such as CSI, forensic evidence is presented as one hundred percent certain, but the reality is different. However, statistical analysis has allowed us to turn from handcrafted forensic medicine based on intuition and experience, to tests based on evidence and data, where uncertainty is quantified in probabilistic terms.

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Author Biographies

Ángel Carracedo, University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain).

Full Professor of Legal Medicine of the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). He was the director of the Institute of Legal Medicine at the University of Santiago de Compostela between 1994 and 2012, and currently coordinates the Genomic Medicine Group at the same university and directs the Spanish National Genotyping Centre. He is a research team leader at the Centre for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), and has received many awards, including the Jaume I Award for Medical Research and the National Genetics Awards. He has been given honorary doctorates from several universities.

Lourdes Prieto, Institute of Forensic Science of the the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain).

PhD in Biology. She is a researcher affiliated to the Institute of Forensic Science at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and is the Vice President of GHEP-ESFG (the International Society for Forensic Genetics Spanish and Portuguese-Speaking Working Group). She has extensive experience in forensic genetics and has participated in international humanitarian identification efforts.

References

Carracedo, A, & Prieto, L. (2014). Valoración de la prueba genética. In M. Casado, & M. Guillén (Eds.), ADN forense: Problemas éticos y jurídicos (pp. 145–156). Barcelona: Observatori de Bioètica i Dret, Universitat de Barcelona.

EUROFORGEN. (2017). Making sense of forensic genetics. London: Sense about Science. EUROFORGEN. Retrieved from http://senseaboutscience.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/making-sense-of-forensic-genetics.pdf

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Kayser, M., & De Knijff, P. (2011). Improving human forensics through advances in genetics, genomics and molecular biology. Nature Reviews Genetics, 12(3), 179–192. doi: 10.1038/nrg2952

Ley Orgánica 10/2007, de 8 de octubre, reguladora de la base de datos policial sobre identificadores obtenidos a partir del ADN. (2007). Retrieved from https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2007-17634

Phillips, C., Prieto, L., Fondevila, M., Salas, A., Gómez-Tato, A., Álvarez-Dios, J., … Lareu, M. V. (2009). Ancestry analysis in the 11-M Madrid bomb attack investigation. PLOS One, 4(8), e6583. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006583

Real Decreto 1977/2008, de 28 de noviembre, por el que se regula la composición y funciones de la Comisión Nacional para el uso forense del ADN.  (2008). Retrieved from https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2008-19992

The International Association for Identification. (2018). PCAST report – Forensic science in criminal courts: Ensuring scientific validity of feature-comparison methods. Retrieved from https://www.theiai.org/president/201609_PCAST_Forensic_Science_Report_FINAL.pdf

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Published

2019-03-06

How to Cite

Carracedo, Ángel, & Prieto, L. (2019). Beyond the CSI effect: The keys to good forensic genetics communication. Metode Science Studies Journal, (9), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.9.10628
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