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Saturday, September 14, 2019

In Assuming DNA Evidence Is Infallible, Are We Making a Mistake?

Listen to Secret History of the Future via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

In the early 20th century, a new forensic technique, fingerprinting, displaced a cruder form of identification based on body measurements. Hailed as modern, scientific, and infallible, fingerprinting was adopted around the world. But in recent years, doubts have been cast on its reliability, and a new technique, DNA profiling, has emerged as the forensic gold standard. In assuming it is infallible, are we making the same mistake again?

Email: secrethistory@slate.com

Podcast production by Bart Warshaw and Kate Holland.

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