[ExI] dna ethics question

[BillK]

On Mon, May 5, 2014 at 3:36 PM, spike wrote:
>
> I am helping some adoptees find their bio-parents.  One of my collaborators
> revealed a horrifying incident that took place a few years ago: her sister
> was kidnapped, raped, held for several days, managed to escape.  They caught
> the bastard, but somehow he managed to get a light-ish sentence, since it
> was his first offense, one for which he could be paroled after a few years.
> Turns out it was arrested in a DNA-collecting state, so they took a sample
> and eventually found a match from another similar crime ten years ago, where
> the victim did not survive.  So he is no longer in the victim's nightmares.
> Today he is a most obedient wife to the brutally affectionate Bubba, who
> stole a car by carrying it away on his back.
>
> OK 23andMe-ers, that was a fictional account, but here's the real deal: what
> if someone had posted this, a highly motivated victim for instance?  Would
> you be willing to join a team to help catch criminals who leave DNA in or on
> the victim?  Would it change your mind if the victim is your mother, your
> sister, your sweetheart, your daughter?
>
>

As I understand it, the police can already do this if they want to.
All they need is sufficient grounds to get a warrant to get their
suspect's DNA sample processed by 23and Me. They probably haven't
bothered so far, as the 23andMe database is not big enough yet.

And for your delectation, how about using the 23andMe database to
*predict* who has the genes that are very likely to commit violent
crimes?

BillK