It helps to know the context behind it forensic DNA technology that will give you a better perspective as to what forensic DNA is and how it grew to be an important tool for law enforcement agencies.
DNA stands for “deoxyribonucleic acid,” which is present in almost every living organism that gives an organism the instructions that are needed to develop, reproduce, and survive. According to History.com, in 1953, two Cambridge University scientists, James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick discovered that DNA could be chemically structured. That structure was the double-helix, a molecule that contains human genes. This discovery would later become the basis for forensic DNA technology for criminal investigations, being used to identify fingerprints on weapons and other small DNA details to help solve crimes.
It wasn’t until 35 years later that the first case using forensic DNA evidence would go to trial in the United Kingdom. In 1987, a 17-year-old British male was accused of raping and murdering two women. Forensic DNA evidence not only cleared the young man, but it also brought the actual criminal, Colin Pitchfork, to justice, becoming the first-ever criminal to be convicted using forensic DNA technology, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
