Controversial DNA testing backed

12 April 2012

A controversial technique for obtaining DNA profiles from tiny samples is scientifically sound, an independent review has concluded.

The study, commissioned by the Government last year after doubts were raised over the reliability of low template DNA testing, made a series of recommendations for improving the collection and interpretation of samples.

Professor Brian Caddy, who led the review, said the technique is fundamentally safe, but is not being used as effectively as it might.

Low copy number (LCN) DNA testing - a particular technique within LT analysis - hit the headlines last December when the judge in the Omagh bombing trial questioned its scientific validity.

Mr Justice Weir expressed doubts over LCN testing after it wrongly linked a sample taken from a car bomb in Northern Ireland to a 14-year-old boy in Nottingham.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland suspended its use of LCN testing after the Omagh trial but the technique continued to be used by prosecutors in England and Wales.

Low template testing can build up a DNA profile from just a few cells, which can be deposited by something as simple as holding a glass or door handle but are too small for standard DNA profiling.

The Caddy Review made 21 recommendations for improving the use of low template testing, among which are the establishment of a programme to educate police scenes of crime and forensics officers on collecting samples for low template analysis; national standards for the interpretation of low template results and the development of an advisory panel to guide the courts on how to interpret low template DNA evidence.

Any DNA profile obtained using low template techniques should be presented to a jury in a criminal trial with caveats, the report said.

Professor Caddy said the report's authors are happy that the science of low template DNA testing is sound and secure.

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