Why in news?
- The cabinet cleared up the draft regulation on DNA technology (Use and Application) paving the way to its Parliamentary reintroduction.
- The Bill was passed in January 2019 by the Lok Sabha, but the Rajya Sabha couldn’t authorise it.
- It therefore expired with the term of the former Lok Sabha.
The Bill and its features:
- It is aimed at the establishment of domestic and regional DNA data banks to identify victims, suspects, etc.
- Those who exploit or illegally divert DNA data are imprisoned for up to three years and fined up to one lakh of property.
- The DNA can only be used to identify the particular person, not any other person.
- During natural disasters, their data will be useful to match the IDs of individuals.
- In order to determine individual identity, it establishes a DNA Regulatory Board to accredit DNA laboratories that analyze DNA samples.
- The advantages are protected DNA records. There can be good results.
DNA technology:
- DNA tests are an extremely useful and exact technology for the identification and establishment of biological relationships among people from a person’s DNA sample.
- For instance, a hair sample or even clothes blood tissue from a crime scene may be compared to that of a suspect, and whether a victim’ s DNA belongs to the sample can, in most instances, be determined conclusively.
- DNA technology is increasingly relied on for crime investigations, identifying unidentified bodies or parenting. The increased use of DNA testing is expected to lead not only to quicker prosecution but also to a higher conviction rate of 30 percent (NCRB 2016 Statistics).
