Andrew Dubois

Staff Writer

    The FBI recently announced that they want to expand the Codis system. The CODIS database stores the DNA profiles created by government agencies and allows those agencies to search the database to assist in finding criminals. The expansion will increase the number of genetic markers that Codis can use to identify people.

    Some scientists oppose this change though. Dr. Bruce Budowle told the BBC that a review of the way they classify genetic markers is a good idea, but making sure the FBI chooses the right markers requires significantly more work. “The first time (in the early nineties) we set up the genetic markers they took a huge community approach. Twenty-one separate laboratories all generated data and analyzed it,” he said. This time, according to Dr. Budowle, the FBI is working with a group of only five scientists.

    Dr. Budowle says that some of the markers used in our current system and even the new system use such large fragments of DNA that it becomes impossible to scan them accurately. In order to have a successful DNA test, large DNA fragments taken from a crime scene must be split into smaller fragments so that they can be scanned more easily. The problem is that this can be a long and expensive process. The changes to the system are meant to reduce the likelihood of chance matches by making the criteria the system uses to identify DNA profiles more specific.