Opening the DNA black box: demythologizing forensic genetics
Opening the DNA black box: demythologizing forensic genetics
复制标题
DOI：
10.1080/14636778.2012.687083
复制
发表时间：
2012-01-01
影响因子：
1.8
通讯作者：
Amorim, Antonio
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Amorim, Antonio
社会影响是遗传学的任何应用分支所固有的。由于法医遗传学的目标是为法律纠纷提供专业知识，因此专家应该让自己能够理解。迫切需要采取措施加深专家和非专家之间的交流，这需要揭穿有关法医遗传学的一些神话，并将讨论（重新）集中在正式遗传学的坚实基础上。 “经典”法医科学依赖于可辨别的独特性的假设，而法医遗传学则处理观察类型。它使用理论框架内的经验估计来计算观测值的预期频率值，从而允许在替代、互斥和详尽的假设下评估同一观测值的概率。因此，与经典法医证据相比，DNA 证据的解释出错的风险更小。然而，需要有明确的规定，并要求刑事调查机构与专家证人机构完全分开。
Social impact is intrinsic to any applied branch of genetics. Since the goal of forensic genetics is to provide expertise in legal disputes, the expert should make her- or himself understood. The urgent need for measures to deepen the communication between experts and non-experts requires debunking of some myths surrounding forensic genetics, and to (re) center the discussion on the solid ground of formal genetics. "Classical" forensic sciences rely on the assumption of discernible uniqueness, while forensic genetics deals with types of observations. It computes expected frequency values for the observations using empirical estimates within a theoretical framework, allowing the evaluation of the probabilities of the same observation under alternative, mutually exclusive and exhaustive hypotheses. Consequently, the interpretation of DNA evidence entails fewer risks of error than classical forensic evidence. However, clear regulations and a total separation between the institutions performing criminal investigation and those acting as expert witnesses are required.