genetic databases: not just for iceland anymore, good for warrants

Blank Frank bf at tanner.org
Tue Apr 10 21:06:32 PDT 2001



Some months ago someone posted about genetic databases being
harvested from Iceland, and suggested other places were being
surveyed too.  Here's a ref for disbelievers.  And an unrelated ref on
*using*
the *state's* DB to bust people based on that DB alone.

_Science_ v 291, 16 mar 2001, p 2075: Talana, Sardinia
"Sardinia's Mysterious Male Methuselah's"
Gist: The 1200 residents of this town have allowed 400 years of genetic
tree-tracing and given genetic samples to a researcher.

(Aside: There are more men > 100 in Sardinia than anywhere else, but
the Sardinians are interested in curing the diseases Sardinians do get,
rather
than playing longetivity games.)

ALSO of interest, from the same issue, p 1893: entitled "Court affirms
DNA
is all you need".  Gist: in Calif, you can get a warrant out for the
arrest of John Doe,
possessor of a given sample of DNA.  There is no statute of limitations
as of 1 Jan
[2001] in that state.  One 'Paul Robinson' was the first to be arrested
solely on the basis of
a database match.

Pass that bowl of hair this way,
BF

.......
"I don't think much of his operating system", he told Plotz, "but I
would like his sperm."
---Paul Smith, proprietor of a high-IQ sperm bank in Nevada, on Bill
Gates
_Science_ v 291 9 Mar 01 p 1893










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