DNA Analysis

Since DNA was first introduced in the mid- 1980s, it has revolutionised forensic science in the area of identification of individuals. This is especially so when processes, such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP), were introduced.

​

The use of PCR allows the amplification of minute amount of DNA to generate thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence within minutes (Wikipedia). The process is highly sensitive and can be used to analyze extremely small amounts of sample. This is often critical for forensic analysis when only a trace amount of DNA is left as evidence. 

​

Furthermore, Dr. Alec Jeffreys discovered that certain regions of human DNA contained sequences that repeated over and over contiguously, and that the number of such repeats differed from individual to individual (Vijay Vasudev Pillay et al., 2007). Hence, by using RFLP , which examines the length variation of these repeat sequences, the identity of individuals can be fixed with a high degree of certainty. This greatly reduced the amount of time investigators need to spend on identifying the culprit, allowing for efficient and effective prosecution process.