In Which Companies OTHER Than 23AndMe... Lead To ID-ing Cold Crime Suspects... WIRED Story, Tonight.

The democratization of DNA sequencing is a good thing. Trust me, on this. Arguing against the use of it -- in the lawful ways described in the below article -- is akin to arguing that it should be unlawful to process a crime scene, for fingerprints. The fact is that millions of fingerprints are now housed worldwide, and in databases -- so too (soon will be) "third cousin or better" level DNA swaths.

To be sure, law enforcement will become more adept at identifying "false ID" positives, as more lawsuits are filed when (inevitably) the officers make mistakes. That has already been litigated in several cases, leading to police reforms. [In addition, as the now dated graphic at right indicates, it has led to being able to reunite more than a few of Trump's kidnapped children with their asylum seeking parents, with certainty. Do consider. . . that.]

Put differently, we would no sooner have ended fingerprinting (in the 1930s), than end DNA sequencing of crime scene bio-collections (here in the 21^st century). And if it leads to catching rapists or murderers, from the 1970s and 1980s (or later) -- who left behind blood, skin or semen samples. . . well, I am all for that. The minimally intrusive burden of any particular cousin being asked whether s/he has any close relatives in a given metro area, at a given time-frame -- especially where the cousin cannot be compelled (that's the law, folks -- know your rights!) to answer (but naturally volunteers, to help solve old crimes) strikes me as not a deep 4^th amendment problem. There is simply no right to remain anonymous, if one has left evidence at a crime scene, and when a crime of violence has occured. There just. . . isn't.

In any event, here it is -- from the surprising Wired story, tonight:

. . . .The study found that once a genetic database covers roughly two percent of the adults in a given ethnic population, a match of a third cousin or closer is expected for almost any person of interest. . . .

For Americans of European ancestry, who are better represented in genetic and genealogical databases, that threshold could be reached in the next few years if recreational DNA testing continues at its current pace. Two percent is only about four million people, based on the most recent US census data. . . .

Now you know. [This content was auto-generated, by an algorithm I wrote some months ago. It kicks in when I am off-grid. Any errors, or context-type mistakes will be corrected (if any) upon my return.]

नमस्ते, and. . . 珍道具!