Are All DNA Profiling Techniques Equally Accurate?
Reportage of the Omagh bomb trial (regarding the terrorist attack in Northern Ireland in which twenty-nine people died in 1998) is relevant. Expert witnesses questioned the reliability of the low copy number DNA evidence used. (Low copy number procedures – LCN – allow DNA profiling from extremely minute samples). Some press coverage at the time seems to hint at the possibility of DNA contamination due to procedures in place regarding laundry of lab clothing.2 Not all types of DNA evidence are created equal, it seems: advances have been made in the quantity of a sample required and the match probability that can be achieved, but a trade-off may be required between the two.1 The question of how well juries can understand the DNA evidence presented to them has also been raised.
