Worlds First National DNA Database

Worlds first national DNA database, as the name says is a collection of data in which DNA
information are stored. It is populated by samples recovered from crime scenes as well as samples
taken from police suspects. An interesting fact is that in England and Wales, those samples, are
taken from anyone arrested or detained at a police station.
I have chosen this topic because not many people are aware of how useful a DNA database
is. British were the very first to understand its importance. They realized that storing DNA
information is of utmost importance for further criminal investigations. The DNA database is one of
the most commonly used tools utilized by law-enforcement agencies to identify suspects of crime
since 1995.
Showing you the evolution of technology and the advantages it brings is one of the reasons I
have chosen this topic. The DNA database is of great use for the police, which for many years
hadn't had much information about crime suspects, biologically speaking. The information
harvesting of all the biological evidence found at a crime scene, such as blood, semen, saliva, hair
and cellular materials, was difficult. Now, with the use of those DNA collections, the police can
access this kind of information with great ease.
Presenting you how technology and human beings can cooperate and how biological material
can get along with technology in order to help humans for different purposes is another reason why
I have decided to write about the DNA databases. Whenever a new profile is submitted, the
National DNA database's records are automatically searched for matches (hits) between individuals
and unsolved crime-stain records and unsolved crime-stain to unsolved crime-stain records - linking
both individuals to crimes and crimes to crimes. This system, which seems complicated at first
sight, is automatically creating possible leads for the police, based on the main police database.
I consider people should be aware of the fact that the law-enforcement agencies collect DNA
samples from even persons who are merely being arrested. Given the fact that more and more
countries are adopting this system, the expansion of the DNA databases which include more and
more persons who are more or less guilty represents a significant shift in which the line between
guilty and innocent is becoming blurred. It undermines the presumption of innocence by treating
people who have merely been arrested as somehow less innocent than others who have not been
convicted of any offense. DNA databases also shift the burden of proof because people with records
on them may be required to prove their innocence if a match occurs between their DNA profile and
a crime scene DNA profile at some point in the future.
Another reason why I'm writing about those databases is that the people have the right to
know that they can be tracked down by law-enforcement agencies. DNA is left at crime scenes, but
it is also left elsewhere. The retention of DNA and fingerprints from an individual on a database
therefore allows a form of biological tagging or bio surveillance, which can be used to attempt to
establish where they have been. This means that DNA databases can be used to track individuals
who have not committed a crime, or whose crime is an act of peaceful protest or dissent. For
example, in a state where freedom of speech or political rights are restricted, the police or secret
services could attempt to take DNA samples from the scene of a political meeting to establish
whether or not particular individuals had been present. In this way, one of our fundamental rights is
taken away, the right to freedom. We are indeed more secure, but for what price?
As I have shown, the DNA databases are more than just collections of information. Police and
other agencies wouldn't be able to use harvested biological information, match individuals with
crime-stains, biologically track people down and even protect us at the standard they have been
doing since the appearance of DNA databases. British were the creators of one the most used but
least known about invention, the technology which pushed the boundaries of policing forward. I
believe that each individual should know a little bit about DNA databases and their uses.

Bran-Crciun Sabin