ABSTRACT
This chapter considers that role together with its unexpected consequence: namely, that DNA may not actually impact greatly on crime statistics as it may serve to prove innocence as well as guilt. Because of its accuracy, DNA testing has been said to have ‘changed the landscape of criminal investigations’. It ‘genetically’ identifies crime perpetrators by comparing bodily substances taken from the scene of the crime with bodily substances collected from suspects. The new advanced genetics, as an integral development in contemporary medicine and health care, has been called ‘one of the substitute forums for religion’ because it provides diverse possibilities stretching even to ‘immortalizing our genetic selves’ through human cloning. The law has long grappled with a test for admissibility of novel categories of scientific evidence and battled to keep out ‘junk’ science. DNA has become increasingly common in major criminal cases where identity of an alleged perpetrator of a crime is concerned.
