The DNA Test and Crime
The role of the DNA test in fighting crime has revolutionised forensic science.
DNA test revolutionised crime
A scan of the headlines over recent years shows that the DNA test has revolutionised how police catch criminals. DNA tests are used by all sorts in society – e.g. paternity tests or to identify victims of accidents, including the victims of the World Trade Centre terrorist attack - but when it comes to unlocking some of the biggest crime mysteries in history, the DNA test has played a pivotal role.
DNA tests help solve crimes
One of the huge benefits of the DNA test is that it can prove beyond doubt a person’s genetic make-up and unique identity. DNA tests are often used to solve crimes from several decades ago when forensic science was far less advanced.
As well as identifying criminals or victims of crime, forensic science can also play an important role in spiritualist or religious crimes.
Miracle babies
In Kenya a preacher claimed his prayers could help infertile couples produce ‘miracle babies’, but a series of court cases in Britain have ruled that these babies were in fact the product of child trafficking, thanks to the evidence of DNA tests. The preacher said the power of prayer helped infertile couples give birth, but a high court judge ruled in 2004 that one of the babies was in fact the victim of child traffickers.
DNA test didn’t match
The woman who claimed to be the baby's mother said she had delivered him after a 27-day pregnancy as a miraculous gift from God. The one-year-old boy was taken into care after a DNA test did not match either of his alleged parents. In another 2004 case, a coroner said that a DNA test showed a baby called Sarah, who died aged three weeks, was not related to either of her alleged parents.
DNA test showed no genetic connection
In fact twenty of the so-called miracle babies were taken into care after DNA tests showed they had no genetic connection to their mothers. Unfortunately, the real identity of the babies’ parents is unknown. A total of twenty children were seized from a Nairobi home, and although DNA tests have shown that the children are not miraculous gifts from God as claimed, the police have so far failed to find their real parents.
Science not magic
At one time in history, the strength of desperation and religious conviction allowed such crimes to continue. But thanks to DNA tests, things considered once to be magic or miraculous are now explained by science and the preacher can no longer get away with child trafficking and causing emotional trauma on such a scale. |
