At first glance, catching criminals based on DNA evidence sounds really appealing.
Occassionally on the news you hear about cold cases being solved because, years later, the criminal responsible for the crime is caught for an unrelated crime, is DNA profiled, and is connected to the cold case through a DNA match with evidence at the scene of the old crime.
Fantastic!
A win for society!
But what if a criminal came to your house before committing a string of burglaries, stole your favourite pillow, and shook your pillow through all the houses they burgled that week, thereby depositing your skins cells, your DNA, through-out those crime scenes?
Still think DNA profiling is a good idea?