DNA+Database

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Describe your Topic below:We are looking at the positives and negatives of having a DNA database from birth.. We are going to look at many instances of this and see what nations think this is good and have it and what nations are really pushing for it. We are also looking for the nations that do not have it and if there is a reason why they do not have one.

** ARGUMENTS FOR: ** ** ARGUMENTS AGAINST: ** 
 * A DNA database covering the whole population and every visitor to the UK, as advocated by Lord Justice Sedley, would save massive amounts of police time and help clear up crimes faster.
 * Those who do nothing wrong have nothing to fear and should be reassured.
 * The current system - the DNA of all those arrested for recordable offences, guilty or not, is retained - is selective and inefficient.
 * Current practice is unfair: ethnic minorities and young people are over-represented, creating resentment and anti-police feeling. Two-in-five black men have their DNA on record, as against fewer than one-in-ten whites.
 * The world has changed: international mobility means that potential terrorists can come and go, often on false papers.
 * It would be the ultimate step on the road to a 'Big Brother' state: Britain would become 'a nation of suspects'.
 * Whatever the utility of DNA samples, there is something inherently disturbing about entering every baby on a database at birth.
 * A national DNA bank would be massively expensive and bureaucratic.
 * It would be damaging to the image of the UK - 'Welcome to Britain: now provide a mouth swab'.
 * DNA information could be abused by corrupt police and others illegally passing information to unauthorised people.

 national DNA database is a government database of DNA profiles which can be used by law enforcement agencies to identify suspects of crimes. The first government datatabase (NDNAD) was set up by the United Kingdom in April 1995. The second one was set up in New Zealand. France set up the FNAEG in 1998.


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In the USA, the FBI has organized the CODIS database. Originally intended for sex offenders, they have since been extended to include almost any criminal offender. In England and Wales, anyone arrested on suspicion of a recordable offence must submit a DNA sample, the profile of which is then stored on the DNA database as a permanent record. Such a system, in which the DNA of criminals are databased (or some variation of this), have been around for years in many countries. Yet, many are now calling for national DNA databases that would include the DNA of any and all citizens regardless of whether they have been arrested and convicted of a crime. Portugal, for example, has plans to introduce a DNA database of its entire population. In Denmark, the Danish Newborn Screening Biobank at Statens Serum Institut keeps a blood sample from people born after 1981. The purpose is to test for Phenylketonuria and other diseases. But it is also used for DNA tests to identify diseased and suspected criminals. The potential utility to crime-fighting efforts and cross-population health studies have caused many individuals, politicians, and organizations to call for national DNA databases. Yet, many oppose the idea, considering it a violation of privacy rights. Other concerns include the price-tag of collecting DNA data and maintaining a DNA database. These and other arguments in this heated public debate are outlined below.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">In any situation where DNA may be used, a DNA profile must be created. Also known as DNA or genetic typing, DNA profiling is simply the collection, processing and analysis of **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">VNTRs **<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: arial,helvetica,clean,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> -- unique sequences on the loci (area on a chromosome). VNTR stands for variable number tandem repeats -- meaning that th­e tandem repeats, or pairs of nucleotides, vary in number. Most DNA sequences in diffe­rent people look too similar to tell apart. After processing, however, VNTRs result in bands that are unique enough to be used for identification. These differences were discovered in 1984 by Dr. Alec Jeffreys, while looking at results of an experiment, using DNA belonging to different family members of one of his lab technicians.

Only for Criminals ||  ||< Pros and Cons Other Nations ||
 * = ** What we (think) we know ** ||=  ||= What we would like to know / understand ||
 * < UK has Datebase

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