DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated, Scientists Show

On a recent episode of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" one of the characters was framed for a murder that she did not commit. To throw a wrench into the characters credibility was her DNA found at the scene of the murder. The fictional tale is spun which ends with the character being exonerated when it is found that her DNA has been faked. Awesome! What a great story right? Faking someones DNA that's not possible right? Wrong!

In a New York Times story in August, it was reported that there is technique that can spoof someones DNA and that it can be done easily with just a bit of knowledge in biology. Though it is possible to spoof someones DNA, there is also a test that can be performed to determine legitimate DNA test results from those which have been faked. The questions now remains, since testing DNA samples is an expensive process will communities go the extra mile and order the test to determine if the DNA sample has been spoofed?

According to the Innocence Project there have been 245 exonerations in the United States based on the results of DNA testing.