DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid was discovered in 1953 by Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and James Dewey Watson. DNA is a nucleic acid that carries the genetic information in the cell. It is made up of two long chains of nucleotides twisted into a double helix and joined by hydrogen bonds between the complementary bases adenine and thymine or cytosine and guanine. The sequence of nucleotides determines individual hereditary characteristics. Recently in science people have been trying to figure out if certain sequences of DNA could be used to determine the race of a person. .
According to the article "The Reality of Race" in Scientific American with the use of forensics a criminologists could determine if a suspect was Caucasian, Afro-Caribbean or Asian Indian by analyzing three sections of DNA. This process can do two things at once, identify race and help investigate crimes. To identify individuals, forensic scientists scan about 10 DNA regions that vary from person to person and use the data to create a DNA profile of the individual (sometimes called a DNA fingerprint). There is an extremely small chance that another person has the same DNA profile for a particular set of regions. There are many benefits that will come with DNA fingerprinting. Some include: identifying potential suspects whose DNA may match evidence left at crime scenes, exonerating people wrongly accused of crimes, establishing paternity and other family relationships and matching organ donors with recipients in transplant programs. "Mapping the DNA sequence in the human genome holds the potential for promoting the fundamental unity of all .
mankind" (GNN-Articles). This can eliminate how different groups of people are seen, classified and react around each other. At the same time ethnic groups are social not genetic labels, so although people may be in the same ethnic group their genomes may be different. The Human Genome Project (HGP) is an international 13 year effort that began in October of 1990.
