‘DNA fingerprinting for crime will not give out any background’

Different set of markers used, explains Director of CDFD

DNA fingerprinting taken for crime suspects or convicts is only of a “certain negligible part” looking for more variations to prove the uniqueness of the person concerned and will not give out any background, identity or religion, clarified Director of the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) K. Thangaraj on Thursday. A different set of markers are used to trace the human origin and evaluation with the entire DNA or genome when the background of the person is known, he explained, in an effort to differentiate between using the technology for solving crimes and genetic study for population studies, during a webinar on ‘DNA Fingerprinting Technology – its success and future’ organised by Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR). Mr. Thangaraj, also Chief Scientist of the CSIR-CCMB, said the technology is to be used only for suspects and convicts with a specific timeline with the profile to be destroyed if proved innocent as per the proposed Bill. While England’s Dr Alec Jeffery is the father of the DNA fingerprinting technology, he traced its development here due to research efforts by CDFD founder-director Lalji Singh.