Micah's DNA (Photo credit: micahb37)
By Bob Barney-The Plain Truth
The Plain Truth has uncovered shocking evidence that DNA convictions and acquittals just may be largely based on junk science and downright fraud. In case after case, we have documented hundreds of cases of unreliable DNA findings, which for the most part, most Americans have been led to believe that DNA evidence was rock solid. Shockingly it isn't!
According to this report by New Scientist DNA is largely considered to be the gold standard in forensics. If a suspect's DNA is found at the crime scene, it is compelling evidence for a conviction. But how is a DNA match determined? There are many places in our genetic code where there are short sequences that are repeated over and over. These repeated regions are called short tandem repeats or STRs. The places where these STRs occur are called loci. There are many variations in the lengths of STRs (I may have 5 repeats at a particular loci and you may have 8 ) and by looking at many different loci scientists create a kind of profile or human bar code that is unique to each individual. This technique is also used to determine parentage because you inherit half of your unique barcode from your mother and half from your father.