1.7m DNA Profiles Cut From Database
By Press Association,
Press Association
| 10. 24. 2013
More than 1.7 million DNA profiles of innocent adults and children have been deleted from the national database, ministers have revealed.
As part of the Government's commitment to slim down the amount of information held by the state, more than 1.6 million fingerprint records from innocent people have also been deleted.
Some 480,000 of the DNA profiles removed from the database were from children, Criminal Information Minister Lord Taylor of Holbeach told Parliament.
In a written statement he said the Government had " delivered its commitment to reform the retention of DNA and fingerprint records by removing innocent people from the databases, and adding the guilty".
Some 7,753,000 samples, containing "sensitive personal biological material", have been destroyed because they are no longer needed as they have been used to create a profile.
Lord Taylor said 1,766,000 DNA profiles from innocent people had been deleted from the National DNA Database (NDNAD) and 1,672,000 fingerprint records had been removed from the national fingerprint database.
He added: " At the same time, 6,800 convicted murderers and sex offenders, not on the database under...
Related Articles
By Nicholas Wade, The New York Times | 04.30.2026
“J. Craig Venter” via Wikimedia Commons licensed under CC by 2.5
J. Craig Venter, a scientist and entrepreneur who raced to decode the human genome, died on Wednesday in San Diego. He was 79.
His death was announced by...
By Jonathan Basile, Los Ángeles Review of Books | 04.29.2026
WILLIAM BATESON, a foundational figure in the science of genetics at the turn of the last century, once recounted the response of a Scottish soldier to one of his public lectures: “Sir, what ye’re telling us is nothing but Scientific...
By Alex Aylward, Daniel J. Fairbanks, Maria Kiladi, and Gregory Radick , Heredity | 04.20.2026
Genetics and eugenics co-evolved at the beginning of the twentieth century and remained associated through the 1940s and beyond. Early geneticists were far from unanimous in their views on eugenics; some avidly supported the movement, whereas others openly opposed it...
By Staff, GMWatch | 03.28.2026
Following a recent podcast interview we were asked whether there is any solid scientific research looking at how gene expression or molecular composition in genetically modified (GM) plants differs from conventionally bred plants. As this is an interesting and important...
