Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The UK's DNA Database

Since a few people seemed interested in the DNA Database during our presentation today, I found this article, which highlights the errors found in the UK's DNA Database. The article says that the DNA contains that of children and individuals who have been arrested. Couldn't this very DNA be misused to implicate someone who is not guilty? In one of my other classes, we discussed how in our culture we view science as truth and system built upon these as truth too, although they are man-made, and as a result subject to error. Someone in the article refers to the DNA database as a joke, as "a system worthy of the Keystone Cops" but it is hardly a joke! While there are advantages to the DNA database such catching criminals who were once arrested by identifying their DNA at a crime scene or having children's DNA to identify a kidnapped person but do these outweigh the potential the system has for misuse?

1 Comments:

Blogger songbird said...

I was thinking the exact same thing about the Microsoft software programs that can measure an employee's heart rate, blood pressure, etc. I know the intent for this software is to keep track of stress levels to ensure a balanced life, but come on. I would love to believe that all employers care that much about their employees, but software like this could be used to see if an employee is nervous or unsure while working on a project or while visiting a specific webiste. It seems to me that this software is almost like a lie detector machine. I just wonder how long it will take before its advantages are misused and abused.
Maybe I'm too hard on employers. I hope they really do want to monitor stress so that they have a happier work environment!

9:26 AM  

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