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Article: DNA `Fingerprinting' is Disputed; Scientists Debate Reliability of Identification in Criminal Cases
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- December 20, 1991
- Author:
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A fierce debate over the reliability of DNA "fingerprinting" in
criminal trials erupted this week in the pages of two of the world's
leading scientific journals.
Fueling the dispute is the allegation that advocates of the
technique - including a federal law-enforcement official - may have
tried to influence scientists and a journal editor to minimize
criticism of the DNA procedure for fear that doubts would threaten
pending legal cases that rely on the method.
Two scientists argue in today's Science that proponents of
"fingerprinting" are making exaggerated claims for the method's
chances of being wrong. Advocates typically say the procedure's
chance of error is only a few in a million or ...