IT HAS revolutionised policing. In 10 years, the England and Wales National DNA Database (NDNAD) – the largest in the world – has matched nearly 600,000 suspects to crimes. This extraordinary success has been possible because police have unprecedented powers to retain samples from suspects, and other countries are following suit. But some experts argue that NDNAD’s size and power mean it poses a serious threat to civil liberties.
One year on from legislation permitting police in England and Wales to collect and retain DNA samples from those arrested, a New Scientist investigation of the effect this is having on…
