Double Helix Jeopardy  DNA databases help solve crimes but aid
and abet racial discrimination  Illustration: David Plunkert  On
4 January 1998, police in London arrested a man, whom court
records call ”B,” on suspicion of burglary. The police swabbed
the inside of the suspect's cheek to collect a sample of his
DNA.  In August, B was acquitted and released. But in September,
B's DNA profile was--accidentally and illegally--entered into
the United Kingdom's national DNA database. The system
automatically compares newly loaded DNA profiles against
unidentified samples obtained from crime scenes. The system
found a match--a sample recovered from a 1997 rape and assault
case. The police arrested B, and the government successfully
prosecuted him for those crimes.  Is there anything wrong with
such a turn of events? Privacy advocates say there is, as do
people worried about racial discrimination. Among these are
lawyers working with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
and the Council for Responsible Genetics,