The low template DNA profiling controversy: Biolegality and boundary work among forensic scientists

Abstract

This article describes disputes that have arisen around forms of forensic DNA profiling technologies known as ‘low-template DNA’ methods. These ultra-sensitive techniques, used to analyse trace quantities of DNA, have previously been used in many high-profile criminal cases. However, certain cases have stimulated renewed debate within forensic scientific communities concerning the reliability and validity of low-template DNA. The low-template DNA controversy is used in this article to further explore the co-productive dynamics between biotechnology and criminal justice, which have previously been termed ‘biolegality’. My study describes the boundary work through which interlocutors have attempted to frame the status of low-template DNA as a forensic innovation. A series of published exchanges by forensic scientists in a technical journal is used to highlight the challenges of negotiating a series of technological boundaries through which low-template DNA has been comprehended by actors. I show how the articulation of low-template DNA creates new and varying epistemic relationships and dependencies. In making visible this boundary work, I highlight the potential for further exploration of the interactional dimensions of biolegality.