DNA in Criminal Cases - Solving Cold Cases in California with Forensic Science

This research will attempt to analyze and discuss the feasibility of DNA testing in solving cold cases and will study the impact that DNA fingerprinting has had on the forensic science community as a whole.

DNA is generally used to solve crimes in one of two ways. In cases where a suspect is identified, a sample of that person's DNA can be compared to evidence from the crime scene. Crime scene evidence can also be linked to other crime scenes through the use of DNA databases. DNA evidence is generally linked to DNA offender profiles through DNA databases. In the late 1980's, the federal government laid the groundwork for a system of national, state, and local DNA databases for the storage and exchange of DNA profiles. This system, called the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), maintains DNA...
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