The secrets of DNA, the technique of criminal investigation advocated by the government – 03/02/2019

That happened on the outskirts of the English county of Leicester, in the 80s. Two teenagers were murdered at three years apart and the cases could be cleared up by the DNA: not only they are allowed to exonerate the main suspect, but they also catch the murderer. It was after the authorities decided to illegally take genetic material from about 5,000 men in the region. The test was negative, but it was discovered later that the murderer had paid someone else to donate his sample. Colin Pitchfork (57) was sentenced to life in 1988 and was the first to be convicted with the DNA fingerprint as evidence.

In 1995, England created its DNA databank which, until 2016, accounted for almost six million samples, one of the world's largest and most controversial: DNA is taken from those who have been arrested for begging, as if to give an example of its lax limitations.

In Argentina, on the other hand, the subject of the gene bank for all criminals is trying to be born in 2019. The Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, wants "DNA is what the fingerprint is aujourd & # 39; hui ". For this, the government is seeking to expand the national offender registry to all accused and convicted of intentional crimes.

Clarin Bulletins

What happened today? We tell you the most important news of the day and what will happen tomorrow when you get up

Monday to Friday afternoon.

The project is part of the legal and technical secretariat of the presidency of the nation and awaits the signature of Mauricio Macri. The idea is to enter the Congress as soon as possible. "It is a tool that allows both to incriminate and detach a suspect," said Gabriel Huespe, National Director of Legislative Development at the country's Ministry of Security.

How it works? The genetic material of the accused or convict is taken and stored under a code in a database. This sample will be contrasted with that raised on a crime scene. "The crossing will determine if there is a match. If this is the case, the taking of the DNA and the comparison will be repeated. If this is positive again, the justice will be informed, "said Fernando Soto, a link of the Ministry of Security with the US FBI for the implementation of the system.

The foundation for the creation of the National Register of Genetic Data was established in 2016: the government signed an agreement to use the Codis software, the FBI, which systematizes and compares DNA. Today, it is used by the Federal Police, the Gendarmerie, the National Registry of Rapists and the provinces of Córdoba and Mendoza. They plan to expand it.

Look also

"This is a global databank and the second step will therefore consist in signing agreements with other countries.For example, France and Germany have their own software, but they were transferred to Codis as part of the European Union for cases of pedophilia and terrorism, "said Mr Soto, adding:" An agreement with Uruguay could help in the case of ". Lola Chomnalez case, if we badume that the murderer could have been an Argentinian who had gone there. exchange with neighboring countries it's very important. "

The arrival of Codis was made within the framework of a controversy. At the time of the signing of the pact with the FBI, there were four months in the country, GENis, the national software whose creation had been promoted by the Sadosky Foundation in 2014, while science and technology was still a ministry. It is used at Entre Ríos, Santiago del Estero, Salta and Tucumán.

"Eighteen provinces have signed up to adopt." Of this total, 16 have installed in their laboratories, 11 have trained their technical staff and four have set up their DNA databank, the others have will make their operational regulations once complete, "said Gustavo Sibilla, coordinator of the GENis project at the Sadosky Foundation.

Sibilla and Soto both specified that GENis and Codis they can live together. What they can not do is share the information contained in the databases. A geneticist who preferred not to get involved in the controversy described the national software: "It's as if you wanted to create a Creole iPhone". And he felt that "the comparison of DNA is the most powerful tool of forensic science".

He also spoke of two exceptions to the rule: the case of twins and those who received a bone marrow transplant. "In the first point, the standard DNA tests do not differentiate them, but more specific studies, in the second, the blood is a chimera.The best place to extract the genetic material is the root of the hair ".

Now, how much is the idea that DNA is infallible rooted? The question was answered at Clarin Luis Fondebrider, Executive Director of the Argentinian Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), participated in a forensic science course held in December: "This idea is deeply rooted, but many elements are not related to genetics as a discipline with human error: sometimes there are not enough controls on how evidence is collected, or it is not taken into account that if i have a cold, I can not go to the scene because I contaminate them or I do not have the same level of concentration at 9 And because most processes are mechanical, it is often cut and stuck, mistakes are made, if I do not have quality control, the report is published and the judge does not know whether he was tired or not.I did it, "he said. Explain.

Look also

In this direction, protocols are the key. "In Argentina, we have very little, the Justice Ministry has published one in 2017 and another one on the production of fairly basic evidence.I have now the best protocol, but if I do not know how to implement it, it does not work for me.What is to do is a stranger who observes and evaluates what is good, what is not, if rigor or training is needed, "said Fondebrider.

For this reason, for the executive director of EAAF, "the first step is to achieve agreements to work in a unique way"And for that, he stressed that there was an additional problem in Argentina:" What can be valid at the federal level, at the provincial level, is something else. If you have 24 provinces and it does not agree, it is very difficult. "

Fondebrider cited as an example the coexistence of Codis and GENis: "Some provinces use the FBI, others Creole, and the underlying problem is not the problem under -jacent when it is decided to create a DNA databank, but there are ethical and legal issues the receipt of information, who has access The position of the state seemed correct to me, it is an important software that is used in the world. On the other side, they talk about sovereignty, so that the Americans take us data ".

Finally, the executive director of EAAF addressed the crucial question of ethics: "Privacy is not something minor. There must be banks of this type, of course, but with important controls exercised by a multidisciplinary committee. This is the most important discussion. "