Real-World DNA Applications

Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (DNA) is a store if genetic information of an organism. This
information is responsible for the characteristics of the organism. Since its discovery over six decades ago
by British scientists James Watson and Francis Crick, DNA has been applied in many fields ranging from
medicine to agriculture, archaeology, and criminal justice system. This paper looks at the way DNA
technology has been used to change the way decisions are made in various real-world settings.
Criminal justice
Before the discovery of DNA, finding perpetrators of crimes was relatively difficult especially if
there were no witnesses around. There were many cases of innocent people receiving long time jail
sentences for crimes that they did not commit. With DNA technology, decisions on who is guilty and who
is not in criminal cases have become more accurate. The use of DNA in forensics began in 1988 in
England using DNA profile technology that had been developed in the same country by Sir Alec Jeffrey
in 1984 (Taupin, 2017). Using this technology, samples of DNA found at the crime scene, such as blood,
hair, semen, skin, and saliva are taken for examination. Once they have been examined, the DNA on the
samples is used to identify matching DNA of the perpetrator of the crime (Taupin, 2017). In this way,
DNA has increased both the speed and accuracy of identifying crime perpetrators.
Paternity and maternity testing
DNA technology is currently widely used to decide whether an individual is the biological parent
of another person. One of the areas where this technology is applied for making such decisions is in
paternity testing when a child’s father is in doubt. To decide about a child’s paternity, the DNA of the
child is compared with that of the suspected father (Lee & Voigt, 2019). If it matches, the information is
used for making decisions such as inheritance and the person to pay for the child’s support.
The technology can also be used in family-based immigration cases to establish biological
relationship between two people. The technology comes in handy when primarily documents that would
ordinarily be used to determine such relationship such as birth certificates are missing (Lee & Voigt,
2019). As for maternity tests, though rare, DNA technology may be used to identify the biological mother
of a child in cases of hospital mix-ups or attempts of an adopted child to reunite with their biological
mother.
Identification of mass incident victims

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DNA technology is also used to identify victims of incidents resulting in mass casualties. When
accidents such as air accidents occur, the remains of the victims may be composed of separated body
parts. DNA technology is then used to determine which body part belongs to which victim (Taki,
Machines, & Shimanda, 2019). The same technology can also be used to identify individual victims in
instances where such identities cannot simply be made through physical observation. An example is
identification of victims of mass war graves.
Conclusion
DNA technology has been nothing short of revolutionary. It has increased not just the speed but
accuracy of making decisions that previously, at best, mere approximations. As this article has shown, the
technology is now used to identify perpetrators of criminal acts, establish biological relationships, and
identify victims of mass casualty incidents. As the DNA technology continues being improved on, it is
likely that it will be used to make decisions in more real-world settings in future.

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References

Lee, C., & Voigt, T. H. (2019). DNA Testing for Family Reunification and the Limits of Biological
Truth. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 0162243919862870.
Taki, T., Machida, M., & Shimada, R. (2019). Trends of traffic fatalities and DNA analysis in
traffic accident investigation. IATSS research.
Taupin, J. M. (2017). Introduction to forensic DNA evidence for criminal justice professionals.
CRC Press.