Though for most people the mention of the words “DNA” and “match” in the same sentence means “guilty”, a Stellenbosch academic believes that there are many uncertainties in DNA-based evidence.
“The advantage of DNA information is that it narrows the size of the pool of suspects. But, usually, we don’t know who the other people in the pool are,” said Dr Arnold Muller, a professor in the department of mathematics at the University of Stellenbosch.
Muller said forensic scientists estimated that the probability that someone else would have the same DNA profile as that of the sample obtained at a crime scene was one in 2million.
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“Given the present size of the South African population (about 52million), there could be up to 27 people in the country whose DNA profile matches that of a sample found at a crime scene,” he said.
Read the full, original story here: Whose DNA is it anyway?
