Blog #4

A fifteen year old school girl, Lynda Mann was abducted in Narbourough,
England. The next day, her body was discovered raped and murdered. Three
years later, another young woman met the same fate near Lyndas resting
place. A man named Richard Buckland confessed to the second murder and
was arrested.
This scene was where forensic testing was first applied. It had never been
tested before this and DNA analysis was still slightly untrusted. There was no
match in either murderer that was attained and the test was repeated again.
Buckland was proven innocent and said he confessed because of pressure by
the police. 5,500 men were tested in the area and Colin Pitchfork persuaded
a friend to test in his place (Forensic 1). He got away with it until he was
overheard bragging and got reported. His genetic profile matched the semen
samples from both girls in 1987 and from that moment became the first
murderer convicted by DNA.
A single persons entire DNA sequence is composed of over 3 billion
nucleotides (Geogene 1). Only about 0.1% is unique to an individual. This
difference can be a powerful tool in identifying people and is unique just as a
persons fingerprint is.
The variation between people is concentrated in particular regions of their
DNA. These regions which are highly-repeated 15-nucleotide segments, are
called minisatellites. The location and number of repeats of any particular
minisatellite is highly variable and not the same in anyone. The chance of
having one minisatellite the same is 1 in 10 billion and thats only one.
Several minisatellites are analyzed at once so the probability is practically
0%. This allows no one to be falsely charged with a crime and for an easier
time to find the correct culprit.
Ever since DNA testing came out, several people who were serving shortterm sentences, life sentences, and death row sentences were released due
to new evidence showing they were innocent. DNA changed the justice and
criminal world and will be making many advancements in the years to come.

Works Cited
"5 Real-life Cases Where DNA Profiling Changed Everything | Forensic
Outreach." Forensic Outreach. N.p., 09 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.
"GoLocalProv | News | RI Legislators Push for Criminal DNA Sampling in
Violent Crimes." GoLocalProv Main. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.
James, Randy. "DNA Testing." Time. Time Inc., 19 June 2009. Web. 10 Feb.
2016.
"Test Your DNA Knowledge." The Graveyard Shift RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb.
2016.
"Tracing Your Genetic Roots." GeoGene: DNA Fingerprinting, What It Is and
How Its Done. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.