Approaching ethical, legal and social issues of emerging forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) technologies comprehensively: Reply to 'Forensic DNA phenotyping: Predicting human appearance from crime scene material for investigative purposes' by Manfred Kayser.
In a recent special issue of the journal on new trends in forensic genetics, Manfred Kayser contributed a review of developments, opportunities and challenges of forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP) In his article he argues that FDP technologies such as determining eye, hair and skin color should be considered as akin to a "biological witness" with the potential of providing more accurate information than traditional eye witnesses [1].In this letter, we add some of these missing dimensions to the proposals made by Kayser, embedding our response to his paper into a wider discourse of forensic genetics studies, and addressing the wider community of forensic geneticists, practitioners and policy makers.
Forensic science international. Genetics