[friendociate]

I saw a story on CBS News-hour 60 Minutes about crime-investigators now using "genetic genealogy" to solve some 'cold cases' (cases that have been unsolved for a long time).

They didn't exactly explain why they call it 'genetic genealogy' and not "Gene-Research" or "Genetics" or something; so I looked up the etymology; and I saw that 'genetics' might refer more to "studying the birth-records of a family-tree," while the crime-investigators were dealing with 'actual genetic materials taken from crime-scenes (and mostly just deducing the "genealogy" from there).'

(Kind of the way paleontologists tell us 'how dinosaurs looked' by looking at their bones, footprints etc. and telling us the things they deduce.)

But I'm reminded of the episode of Adam Ruins Everything where Mr. Conover tells us that many of the things we see on 'television crime-dramas' are just another form of "beam me up, set your phasers to stun, shields at 100%'-"sci fi."

That ARE-link only deals with crime-drama's insistence that "fingerprints are proof" (every one is different, like snowflakes ... which aren't guaranteed-different either), but ... what are "genes" anyway?

I ask at Reference.com, and it keeps telling me that "Genes are segments of DNA acids that are found within the nuclei of cells in living organisms." Which cells, ALL cells?

Why then do some cells have 46 chromosomes while 'parenting'-cells only have 23?

[oldbuddy]

I saw that 60 Minutes show and I hope it becomes even more main stream. Anything we can do to get more criminals off the street is a good use of man's power of reasoning and it seems it would also aid in keeping those who are not guilty out of wrongful imprisonment.

[friendociate]

Anything we can do to get more criminals off the street is a good use of man's power of reasoning and it seems it would also aid in keeping those who are not guilty out of wrongful imprisonment.

Yeah; but what's the difference between 'genetic material' and 'random molecules'?

And weren't most of the criminals they finally captured 'decrepit old do-nothings'? "Keeping them off the street" seems like kind of a 'moot point' now ('the street' not having seen them for a little while!)

The point 60 Minutes focused-on was "that the victims families are finally seeing justice." And--though I'm not sure 'how trustworthy the method is'--'justice' is needed not for the criminals' sake, but -for the families' & law-abiding citizens' sake!

That is; if the criminals weren't caught & dealt with, then the citizens could (possibly when they're angry about it) wrongly justify-to-themselves 'going out and doing criminal things' because criminal things had been done to them and the criminals got away with it