Foo - How will this affect future crime investigation?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080117/ap_on_sc/cloned_embryos

Read that. Essentially we're getting better at cloning things. We're getting close to creating artificial stem cells. This got me thinking. Is this the same as cloning DNA? What will this do to our future court system? Will such a conclusive and powerful investigative tool be thrown out because cloning someones DNA will be easy enough to frame them?

Talk amongst yourselves.

I don't think it will be such an issue. Without a reason to, nobody will be going out and framing anyone with fabricated DNA. It takes serious skill and equipment to mess with DNA, and people who understand these things don't tend to be career criminals.

Not that it won't possibly be a future issue, especially with the super rich, but I don't think it will cause an epidemic of framings.

The 6th Day but in real life.

The 6th Day but in real life.

Haha, I was just about to say that.

http://www.wvip.co.uk/images/dvd/6thDay/6thDayR2.jpg

Never saw that movie. How'd it end? What was their solution?

Michigander, sure it wouldn't be a very easy process, but there are certainly white collar crimes getting committed. If someone wants someone dead, and they have enough money, it'd be an option. The problem I see is not with people framing one another, it's that the DNA evidence against actual criminals is not allowed in court now that we have the ability to duplicate anyones DNA, supposing we have a sample. Is this going to remove the conclusive evidence aspect of DNA?

Why bother doing anything that fancy?

It's still much cheaper and easier to do a lot of other options.

Courts are finicky. Judges with biases will disallow evidence for bull**** reasons, and jury's get this "beyond a shadow of a doubt" idea, when in fact they should be looking for evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. No form of evidence has absolute sanctity. Crooked police have been messing with evidence and otherwise framing people since crime investigation began. Nothing is about to change drastically.

All I see is benefits for the most part. DNA developments have enormous medical possibilities.

I'm sorry that there has been such opposition to stem-cell research for so many years. Might've saved my husband, or at least made his life better for a longer period of time.... Jes' sayin', on behalf of my late husband and myself, whose lives might have been touched by advances that could have otherwise been made....

I'm also sorry to see that this thread is gonna go to P&R.

Mods, if it does, please remove this post. :(

Why bother doing anything that fancy?

It's still much cheaper and easier to do a lot of other options.

Courts are finicky. Judges with biases will disallow evidence for bull**** reasons, and jury's get this "beyond a shadow of a doubt" idea, when in fact they should be looking for evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. No form of evidence has absolute sanctity. Crooked police have been messing with evidence and otherwise framing people since crime investigation began. Nothing is about to change drastically.

All I see is benefits for the most part. DNA developments have enormous medical possibilities.

Yea those are some good points, and I'm not denying the medical benefits. I'm wondering about the future though. It will eventually be easy to clone DNA of someone. Hell the amount of genetic material we're storing now is adding up. You can have a sort of healing creme made from your own blood that is supposed to heal cuts and other wounds quicker than normal. Parents are storing their newborns umbilical cord blood in case of emergency. It's becoming easier to find genetic material.

This makes me sound paranoid, but I'm not. It was just a thought that ran through my head.

I also see no reason for this thread to go to P&R unless you begin talking about the merits of stem cell research in medicine, which is not what this thread is about. No one is going to argue we should stop stem cell research because then DNA evidence will not be able to be used in court.

VV, I understand your thoughts as my wife has had type 1 diabetes since age 9 and we are starting to see things that concern us. She has always maintain her blood sugars in a religious fashion, but having the disease for 30+ years finally wears a body out.

You'd have to get a sample of someone's cells in order to clone them and duplicate the DNA. If you have the sample, just plant it at the crime...you wouldn't need to clone first.