Professor Sir Alec Jeffries talks to us about the discovery of DNA
fingerprinting, its uses/abuses and its impact on society.

Preview from the Show:

I’ve been called the father of DNA fingerprinting - I think grandfather is
more appropriate. So basically the baby has grown up and spawned its own
offspring – so I’m now granddad – and they are thriving. …But obviously I keep a
very, very great interest in watching… just how it’s being used, and indeed, on
occasion how it’s being misused, or potentially misused. And on that point, I
will certainly stand up and raise these issues.

BARTEL: Can you tell us a little bit about how you
discovered the technology?

By glorious accident. The last thing on my mind in the lead up work to
developing that first DNA fingerprint was any thought of forensic investigation.

[Later]:
I went back that evening to my home and sat down with my wife Sue – very excited
– and said, look this is what we’ve come up with; I think we can use it for
this, that, and the other. And she said “yeah – that’s great, but you’ve
forgotten one thing. ? I said "what’s that", and she said “immigration disputes. ?
…And at that point, I remember my blood running cold. Because I suddenly
thought "immigration – that is seriously political; this not science anymore.
This is getting dangerously into the world of politics." But as history would
have it, the very first case was an immigration dispute, and the first
application was in immigration.

First, DNA fingerprinting wouldn’t have happened without
basic blue skies research; it came out of nowhere – it was unpredictable. And
secondly, science is a lot of fun. Without that sense of fun, I wouldn’t have
come up with this either. I think those are two important messages for the
policy makers, but certainly for the young people of today – tomorrow’s future
scientists.



Links:






Professor Sir Alec Jeffries, University of Leicester


The
Gene Genius (publication from the University of Leicester)




Sir Alec Jeffries entry on Wikipedia



Discovering DNA
Fingerprinting from the Wellcome Trust





Pioneering DNA Forensics (from NPR)




Privacy Fears Over DNA (article from BBC News)




The
Informer in your Blood (article from The First Post)