ABSTRACT
This chapter will introduce the historical context of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) profiling and its predecessors of personal identification: fingerprints and blood group analysis. The range of possible uses will be described, but not the techniques used to analyse body fluids. Analysis techniques will be described in later chapters. The range of different techniques of DNA analysis will be dealt with in their historical context, from the first systems, which are no longer used, to the next generation of analysis which will become available in the next few years.
