The Matrix, Criminal DNA Database

Roastedpinebark

Imagine a world where criminals always end up behind bars, with the evidence-their DNA.  Our world today rapidly approaches this somewhat science fiction-like scenario, as the United States currently runs its own Criminal DNA Database.  The criminal DNA database consists of uses, dangers, and reality.  DNA databases will create many new challenges and benefits not just in our future, but today.

            There exist many crucial uses for a DNA “bank” or database in not only crime investigating, but also national defense, the military, and health identification purposes.  “Nearly every industrialized country maintains DNA databases of convicted offenders” (Bieber).  Information regarding how DNA identification and the circumstances that exist today remain fairly confidential, as the public receives most insight into DNA identification from TV series like CSI.  The following quote from Donna Lyons, the head of NCSL’s Criminal Justice Program in Denver, Colorado, states some pertinent information about modern day DNA databases.  “Virginia, in 1989, was the first state with a DNA database.  By 1999, every state had one” (Lyons).  DNA found at a crime scene gets compared with DNA stored in the database.  As each individual state has its own database, problems occur when a criminal commits an act in a different state.

            To use criminal DNA databases effectively, the United States Government has tried several projects to improve the system.  A project, entitled MATRIX (Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange system) shares the mass of DNA and information collected on criminals and public information into one database for a quicker and more efficient criminal match.  An article by Blake Harrison helps shed light on the MATRIX Project, “Information that states contribute to MATRIX, including such things as criminal and DMV records, are combined with commercially available information, such as addresses obtained from phone books going back 30 years.”  Basically, MATRIX’s exists to “reinvent the way law enforcement shares information to protect the public” (Harrison).  By using public, commercial, and police information, MATRIX can speed up the identification of criminals much faster then older methods.

            Lastly, uses of DNA databases do not just apply to criminals, but to the military and medical field.  Pamela Sankar, in an American Journal of Public Health article explains that “the military is collecting samples from enlistees at the rate of 200,000 per year.”  Usually, the majority of the public deems this act as appropriate, because DNA identification on bodies and after bombings would save families the grief of being uncertain if their son or daughter died.  Another important aspect needing consideration applies to science.  “Scientific analysis of this “future diary” can reveal susceptibility to diseases as diverse as cancer and alcoholism.  Recent research has identified over 4,000 genetic diseases and conditions” (Sankar).

            Going hand and hand with uses, dangers of criminal DNA databases pose several threats to the public.  “DNA databases pose a serious risk to the public health from their threats to genetic privacy.  DNA used to identify a criminal also contains details about a person’s genetic make-up” (Sankar).  If DNA information no longer had privacy, insurance companies could cease to exist, as some customers could be deemed as too costly for insurance (having a future genetic diary to inform the company of a high probability of certain health problems).  Psychological damage could also occur, as cancer-susceptible people, as well as other serious diseases and illnesses) could behave negatively.   These threats need to have consideration with the current stages of DNA databases.

            The reality of criminal DNA databases now shows that they still make more of a positive contribution to our society than the negative effects that pose from a DNA database. The criminal DNA database consists of uses, dangers, and reality.  Criminal DNA databases, at the current rate of growth, will eventually affect each of our family history genetics and genetic material as private information or public.  Now is the time to voice opinions to the government about views of genetic databases.

Works Cited

Bieber, Frederick. "Finding Criminals Through DNA of Their Relatives." 06 Feb 2006.  17 Feb 2009 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid>.

Lyons, Donna. "Capturing DNA's Crime Fighting Potential." Mar 2006. StateLegislatures.  17 Feb 2009 <http://webebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=6&>.

Sankar, Pamela. "The Proliferation and Risks of Government DNA Databases." Mar 1997.  American Journal of Public Health. Jan 2009 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vi>.

Harrison, Blake. "MATRIX Revolution." May 2004. State Legislatures Vol. 30Issues 5. Jan 2009 <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=6>.