Part 3: classroom activity (20 minutes)

A key question that is raised throughout this lesson is: How can we as a society use genetics to identify suspects, exonerate people, and find missing persons, and at the same time develop policies that ensure fairness and provide appropriate safeguards and privacy protections?

The scenarios provided on pages 17-20 encourage students to critically think about this question from a variety of perspectives. Please remind students that many experts, including lawyers, privacy and civil rights scholars, and law enforcement, do not agree on when and how DNA should be used in law enforcement investigations and that the questions posed here are part of an ongoing debate.

For this activity, divide students into groups. Depending on class size, you can put students into 3 groups, or say, 6 groups, with two groups each working on the same scenario. Handouts for students are on pages 17-20 of this lesson plan. Group sizes can be flexible based on your class size and need. Within each group, have students read the assigned scenario and consider the accompanying questions. Then, have each group present their scenario to the rest of the class and close with a group discussion.

DNA, Crime, and Law Enforcement

Part 4: ASSESSMENTS & HANDOUTS

Homework assignment:

Have students read the April 2008 Washington Post article “From DNA of Family, a Tool to Make Arrests,” and answer the following questions using the information from the slideshow and/or ideas from the class discussion. A handout for students may be found on page 21.

1. What are the benefits of law enforcement using the DNA of a suspect’s relative to try to catch the suspect? What might be concerning about this approach? Explain.

2. It has been estimated that African Americans comprise approximately 40% of the CODIS database, despite comprising about 13% of the United States population. By extension, then, relatives of African-Americans are also more likely to be identified in familial searches of an offender database. What do you think about this discrepancy? Should something be changed to bring this more in line with the racial makeup of the United States population? How important are race and privacy considerations when developing these policies?

“DNA, Crime, and Law Enforcement” quiz answer key

(see page 22 for quiz)

To identify suspect, to identify victims and missing persons, and to provide evidence to support exonerations.

Mitochondrial DNA. It is passed down to offspring generally only through the egg and not the sperm. Thus, it links the grandchildren, through their biological mothers, to the Grandmothers.

D

F

T

T

F

 

DNA, Crime, and Law Enforcement

STUDENT HANDOUT

Name_____________________________________ Date____________

Scenario A: Mitochondrial DNA and the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo

How can mitochondrial DNA be used to solve crimes, and should there be a limit to the role courts have in enforcing DNA testing on an unknown relative?

During Argentina’s “Dirty War” (1976-1983), Argentina’s military dictatorship declared war against those suspected of being “communist opponents” of the country’s leaders. The war tactics used included torture, abduction and murder of adults and children. It is estimated that 10,000-30,000 citizens were taken by the Argentinian government and labeled as “disappeared” or “desaparecidos”, including an unknown number of children. Many pregnant women placed in detention camps by the dictatorship had their babies taken after birth and in many cases given or sold to couples with close ties to the military. The women were usually murdered, and the identities of children were erased.

Locating the children and connecting them to the biological families from whom they were taken, is the mission of the “Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo” (Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo), a group of mothers of the murdered women. Weekly demonstrations in front of the presidential palace gained international attention, including from US and Argentinian geneticists.

In 1984, Dr. Mary-Claire King, a geneticist from the University of California, Berkeley teamed up with Dr. Ana Maria DiLonardo, a geneticist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. They developed a test that could identify a genetic link between the grandmothers and their grandchildren using mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondrial DNA is a part of our DNA that is generally passed down to offspring via the egg and not via the sperm. Thus, this type of DNA provides a genetic link from the grandchildren, via their biological mothers, to the Grandmothers, who were trying to find them.

In 1989, the Grandmothers were able to push the Argentinian government to set up a National Genetic Data Bank. This bank collects and stores the DNA of the relatives of missing children, so that genetic identification can be done in the future even after the grandmothers have passed away.

Discussion questions:

1. How was mitochondrial DNA used to reunite families?

2. In 2010, Argentinian courts ordered that the DNA of two adopted children of a wealthy businessman be tested, against their will, to determine if they are children who were kidnapped during the Dirty War. Do you think the court order was right or wrong? Do the children have a right to not know who are their biological parents? Explain.

 

Name_____________________________________ Date____________