Evidence is coming out that DNA testing is sometimes wrong. What is considered by most people in the general public to be foolproof, DNA test results are assisting in the wrongful convictions of innocent citizens and contributing to child support payments for men who are not biological fathers. There are two reasons for bad DNA testing results; poor testing methods and poor interpretation.
60 minutes reported on a man who was wrongly convicted of rape and sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Houston crime lab said his DNA profile matched that of an evidence sample found at the crime scene. It turns out the profiles didn’t match at all. The test results were interpreted wrong.
DNA testing results show a series of peaks, which need to be interpreted manually by a trained scientist. The machines that produce the data do not produce the final results. When you get a scientist who is undertrained or under the watchful eye of biased parties, it’s easy to get wrong results.
Cross contamination can occur during evidence collection or DNA testing. This is another leading cause of poor results. Evidence samples mix with reference samples or other evidence samples. It ruins the whole test.
Laboratories have been knows to mix standard paternity testing samples in child support cases, leading to false exclusions. Again, data can be interpreted wrong and produce a false inclusion.
In any regard, it’s of utmost importance to check the qualifications and methods of any DNA testing laboratory you choose to use for testing. There are plenty of reputable labs out there. There are also plenty of labs like Houston.
