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Forensic genealogy isn't perfect. There are a few different kinds of DNA tests and comparisons, and some of those are better than others, and which one is used

Forensic genealogy isn't perfect. There are a few different kinds of DNA tests and comparisons, and some of those are better than others, and which one is used and how the DNA is collected and the interpretation of the results is still left up to human beings with badges, so it's still error-prone. This has led to people being wrongly accused, and even convicted, of serious crimes: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/genetic-genealogy-can-help-solve-cold-cases-it-can-also-accuse-the-wrong-person https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/genetic-genealogy-can-h... https://gizmodo.com/when-bad-dna-tests-lead-to-false-convictions-1797915655 https://gizmodo.com/when-bad-dna-tests-lead-to-false-convict... https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/forensics-gone-wrong-when-dna-snares-innocent https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/forensics-gone-wrong... https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/dna-ancestry-kits-twins-marketplace-1.4980976 https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/dna-ancestry-kits-twins-m... The problem here is that DNA evidence is currently considered infallible by law enforcement and jurors, so very nearly no amount of contradictory evidence will get you off the hook if a DNA test matches you to a cold case.

hi41 7y ago
Thank you for your well researched response. That answered my question.
endorphone 7y ago
The police don't charge anyone based upon a 23andme test. They couldn't given that the typing done by 23andme and friends is an incomplete chip analyzed subset used for ancestry and some health tests. If you took that 23andme test and uploaded it to GEDmatch, however, there are genetic genealogy experts who can figure out family trees, with which the police can narrow in somewhat to try to figure out who might fit a crime. Then they can ask you to volunteer a sample for comparison, or covertly get one. It has been spectacularly successful. A lot of cold cases have been getting solved because of such analysis. As to your list of URLs, I think people should actually read them. A guy had a trivial inconvenience after he had a familial match with a violent rape, and he met all of the other criteria (travel area, made a movie about a violent murder of a young female, etc). Then he was exonerated. He could have had more of an inconvenience if he simply had a car that looked slightly like a suspect vehicle, or the same hair style, but this is the example of overreach? Another is an absurd misuse of DNA in Taiwan that has zero applicability. The final sentence is just nonsense. The DNA isn't even the lynchpin in most cases, the police instead building a case given that lead. It's also worth noting that one of the greatest tools for exonerating people wrongly convicted is....DNA. Many people who unjustly spent decades behind bars are being freed based upon DNA.

hi41 7y ago

Thank you for your well researched response. That answered my question.

endorphone 7y ago

The police don't charge anyone based upon a 23andme test. They couldn't given that the typing done by 23andme and friends is an incomplete chip analyzed subset used for ancestry and some health tests. If you took that 23andme test and uploaded it to GEDmatch, however, there are genetic genealogy experts who can figure out family trees, with which the police can narrow in somewhat to try to figure out who might fit a crime. Then they can ask you to volunteer a sample for comparison, or covertly get one. It has been spectacularly successful. A lot of cold cases have been getting solved because of such analysis. As to your list of URLs, I think people should actually read them. A guy had a trivial inconvenience after he had a familial match with a violent rape, and he met all of the other criteria (travel area, made a movie about a violent murder of a young female, etc). Then he was exonerated. He could have had more of an inconvenience if he simply had a car that looked slightly like a suspect vehicle, or the same hair style, but this is the example of overreach? Another is an absurd misuse of DNA in Taiwan that has zero applicability. The final sentence is just nonsense. The DNA isn't even the lynchpin in most cases, the police instead building a case given that lead. It's also worth noting that one of the greatest tools for exonerating people wrongly convicted is....DNA. Many people who unjustly spent decades behind bars are being freed based upon DNA.