Abstract
This article is about the governance of expectations of forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) innovations in Germany used for the prediction of human externally visible traits such as eye, hair, and skin color, as well as biological age and biogeographic ancestry. In 2019, FDP technologies were regulated under the label “extended DNA analysis”. We focus on the expectations of members of the forensic genetics’ community in Germany, in anticipation and response to those of regulators who advocated for such technologies. Confronted with regulators’ expectations of omnipotent technologies and the optimistic promise that they will enhance public security, forensic geneticists responded with attempts to adjust such expectations, specifying limits and risks, along with a particular logic sorting matters of concern. We reflect on how forensic geneticists’ govern expectations through forms of distributed anticipatory governance, delimiting their obligations, and distributing accountability across the criminal justice system.
Highlights
Forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) is a bundle of DNA analysis technologies that have emerged for the prediction of human physical characteristics, including externally visible traits such as the color of eyes, hair, and skin, as well as biological age and biogeographic ancestry
We selected interviewees based on the search of German authors of scientific articles in the area of forensic DNA phenotyping, additional contacts with professionals participating in conferences and other events relevant to the field, and complemented the selection with the snowball method applied among interviewees asking for forensic geneticists with a known viewpoint on the matter of the “extended DNA analysis” in particular and the regulation of FDP in Germany in general
The forensic geneticists in Germany we talked to were informed about a certain range of views and supportive or skeptic positions regarding FDP technologies represented in the media and in such events which they either had attended or heard of
Summary
Forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) is a bundle of DNA analysis technologies that have emerged for the prediction of human physical characteristics, including externally visible traits such as the color of eyes, hair, and skin, as well as biological age and biogeographic ancestry. These technologies aim to provide typological information about common, but varying, personal features by drawing on populationbased probabilities. FDP’s overall promise is linked to the ability to narrow down groups of criminal suspects and improve criminal investigations and increase public security
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