Take everyone's DNA fingerprint, says pioneer

By Steve Connor in Long Island, New York

03 February 2003

Everybody in Europe and the US should have their genetic fingerprints 
entered into an international database to enable law enforcement 
agencies to fight crime and terrorism in an unstable world, according 
to James Watson, the co-discoverer of the DNA double helix.  

In an exclusive interview with The Independent to mark the 50th 
anniversary of his discovery, the scientist said the risks posed 
by terrorists and organised criminals now outweighed the possible 
objections on civil liberties grounds to a DNA database.  

"It is not that I am insensitive to the concerns about individual 
privacy or to the potential for inappropriate use of genetic information, 
but it would make life safer," Professor Watson, the president of the Cold 
Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, said.  

As the first director of the Human Genome Project, Professor Watson 
set aside funds to examine the potential ethical concerns relating to 
the misuse of genetic information. DNA fingerprints, which do not contain 
medical information and are merely used to establish a person's identity, 
pose fewer threats, he said.  

"The sacrifice of this particular form of anonymity does not seem an 
unreasonable price to pay, provided the laws see to a strict and 
judicious control over access to public data," he said. "It would be 
harder to be a crook. If you want to make the criminal justice system 
more fair, what's wrong with it?"  

Europe and the US could introduce such a database relatively cheaply 
and easily, he said. "It's hard to imagine that in 100 years from now 
we won't have it. With the increase in terrorism, we want to know who 
people are."  

Many people might object out of an irrational fear of DNA, which has 
a "voodoo quality", he admitted. "A lack of understanding of genetic 
complexities leaves one susceptible to the worst anxieties and 
conspiracy theories."  

Professor Alec Jeffreys of Leicester University, who developed DNA 
fingerprinting in the 1980s, also called for a national DNA database 
for crime fighting in a speech last year at the Science Festival. 
Since its development, the fingerprinting technique has become one 
of the most powerful tools in forensic science.

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Source:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=375107

Cheers, Steve..

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