---> Due Tuesday, May 30, in class <---
In compliance with the Dartmouth honor principle, all the work you hand in on this exam is to be your own.
Your answer should be a maximum of 6 printed pages (this is a limit not a goal) -- anything beyond six pages will be ignored. A page is defined as an 8.5" x 11" sheet with one inch margins. The font should be 12 point Times and text should be double spaced. The bibliography (and any figures you might have) should be at the end of the paper and will not count towards the page limit. You can cite references in the body of the text using numbers.
This exam is open book. You can use your notes, the web, the library, newspapers, etc. You cannot talk to others about your answer, though -- the work you hand in must be entirely your own.
There is a defined format to be followed for the paper.
Good luck.
Recently, law enforcement officials have started using DNA profiles of relatives of criminals to identify the criminals themselves (see article at CNN). According to the article, it is often the case that criminals have relatives that are also criminals. Having the DNA identity of one family member in a DNA database, can often lead to the identification of DNA from a relative found at a crime scene. This ability raises a number of ethical questions. As mentioned in the article, this approach might be subjecting innocent individuals to a lifetime of surveillance just because they have a relative who has a criminal record (and DNA in a database).
Discuss some of the issues involved in this situation. Here are some questions to get you thinking about this issue (in addition to the issues raised in the article). Is it right to use one person's DNA to identify a relative who committed a crime? How far should this be taken? Is it OK to identify a sibling? parents or children? first cousins? second cousins? Would it be OK to make a general DNA database of everyone in the country and use it to identify DNA from crime scenes. Traditional fingerprinting can be used to identify an individual. DNA fingerprinting can identify not only the individual, but can be used to identify close relatives. How does society decide where to draw the line between privacy and the public good?