One bad Cop and the whole system can go down.

[Aren Jay]

Not saying that this is happening but it could.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18dna.html?_r=2

And if it does it is going to make every criminal case in the future a huge problem.

[DEFYANT]

Yeah, a cop with a lab to alter the DNA. And we all know cops are trained at this level of scientific evidence examination.

Please.

[Aren Jay]

Any grad student in genetics, tell me no cops have studied genetics.

Of course if a Lawyer hires someone to do this and shows it was the cop or judge or the pope that did the crime instead, well that would screw the system as well.

[Dr Caleb]

Yeah, a cop with a lab to alter the DNA. And we all know cops are trained at this level of scientific evidence examination.

Please.

No, but a lab tech with a grudge could do this. Imagine trying to disprove evidence that is the Holy Grail to the justice system?

[FormulaMarauder]

....and a Dr. can accidentally amputate the wrong limb. And a lawyer can keep charging you for his services even though a states attorney already made a deal. And a dealership can overcharge you for work not done to your car. And a woman can beat herself up and claim she was abused and ***** after a night of consensual sex. And a priest can molest his alterboys. And a President can get a ******* from an intern. What's your point?
The chain of command is so ****ing strenuous these days it makes it literally and figuritavely almost impossible to do so. This isn't TV land. Forsensics and DNA samplings are done by Doctors and forsensic scientists at State laboratories, not by cops. Stop watching cop TV shows.

[xopher]

Any grad student in genetics, tell me no cops have studied genetics.
Most cops have education for their line of work, but do not have graduate degrees, let alone in biosciences.

The fabrication of DNA evidence isn't really an issue. If I can get a copy of someone's fingerprints, with the right equipment, I can place their fingerprints anywhere. If I were to try to place someone's DNA at a crime scene, I'd just get some of their DNA via hair or saliva and place it at the scene. I'm not gonna spend tens of thousands of dollars (or more?) to fake their DNA. Could be the plot to some blockbuster scifi/crime thriller, but getting Betty Lou's blood on her estranged husband's sneakers is way easier than manufacturing his DNA.

[SC Cheesehead]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18dna.html?_r=3

"...Dr. Frumkin is a founder of Nucleix, a company based in Tel Aviv that has developed a test to distinguish real DNA samples from fake ones that it hopes to sell to forensics (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/forensic_science/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) laboratories...Nucleix’s test to tell if a sample has been fabricated relies on the fact that amplified DNA — which would be used in either deception — is not methylated, meaning it lacks certain molecules that are attached to the DNA at specific points, usually to inactivate genes."

Looks like there's a test in place to determine if DNA samples are real or faked, so NBD.