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Genetic Witness : Science, Law, and Controversy in the Making of DNA Profiling / Jay D. Aronson.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, [2007]Copyright date: ©2007Description: 1 online resource (288 p.) : 8Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780813543833
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 614/.10941 22
LOC classification:
  • RA1057.55 .A76 2007eb
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Science for Hire -- 3 DNA on Trial -- 4 Challenging DNA -- 5 Public Science -- 6 The DNA Wars -- 7 The Debate in Washington -- 8 The DNA Wars Are Over -- 9 The Legacy of History -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author
Summary: When DNA profiling was first introduced into the American legal system in 1987, it was heralded as a technology that would revolutionize law enforcement. As an investigative tool, it has lived up to much of this hype—it is regularly used to track down unknown criminals, put murderers and rapists behind bars, and exonerate the innocent. Yet, this promise took ten turbulent years to be fulfilled. In Genetic Witness, Jay D. Aronson uncovers the dramatic early history of DNA profiling that has been obscured by the technique’s recent success. He demonstrates that robust quality control and quality assurance measures were initially nonexistent, interpretation of test results was based more on assumption than empirical evidence, and the technique was susceptible to error at every stage. Most of these issues came to light only through defense challenges to what prosecutors claimed to be an infallible technology. Although this process was fraught with controversy, inefficiency, and personal antagonism, the quality of DNA evidence improved dramatically as a result. Aronson argues, however, that the dream of a perfect identification technology remains unrealized.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780813543833

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Science for Hire -- 3 DNA on Trial -- 4 Challenging DNA -- 5 Public Science -- 6 The DNA Wars -- 7 The Debate in Washington -- 8 The DNA Wars Are Over -- 9 The Legacy of History -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

When DNA profiling was first introduced into the American legal system in 1987, it was heralded as a technology that would revolutionize law enforcement. As an investigative tool, it has lived up to much of this hype—it is regularly used to track down unknown criminals, put murderers and rapists behind bars, and exonerate the innocent. Yet, this promise took ten turbulent years to be fulfilled. In Genetic Witness, Jay D. Aronson uncovers the dramatic early history of DNA profiling that has been obscured by the technique’s recent success. He demonstrates that robust quality control and quality assurance measures were initially nonexistent, interpretation of test results was based more on assumption than empirical evidence, and the technique was susceptible to error at every stage. Most of these issues came to light only through defense challenges to what prosecutors claimed to be an infallible technology. Although this process was fraught with controversy, inefficiency, and personal antagonism, the quality of DNA evidence improved dramatically as a result. Aronson argues, however, that the dream of a perfect identification technology remains unrealized.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 02. Jun 2024)