My DNA

It was, I recall, over a decade ago that policemen turned up at the prison to take everyone's DNA. It was made clear that this would be done "one way or another", including by force. And so there is a little bag in a fridge somewhere, full of my hair.

Government being as it is, "mission creep" has the potential to cause some problems as a result. Keeping my DNA as a crime detection tool is one thing (and one set of arguments). But what about when it is used for basic research?

The Government is quite happy to have various boffins prodding these genomes, seeking answers to questions that are laden with potential dilemmas.

For example, what if it is asserted that a particular set of genetic markers correlates, on the database, with an increased disposition to violence?

The popular media will, undoubtedly, scream that science can predict future murderers. The political pressure to make use of such information will be immense.

Already people who have committed crimes are detained longer solely on the basis of what they may do in future. A society willing to endorse that is only a short step away from detaining those who have yet to commit a crime, but who seem to have an increased disposition to do so.

Of course, as some wag long ago mooted, the way to slash the crime rate is to imprison everybody with an XY chromosome...