Overview

DNA profiling—commonly known as DNA fingerprinting—is often heralded as unassailable criminal evidence, a veritable “truth machine” that can overturn convictions based on eyewitness testimony, confessions, and other forms of forensic evidence. But DNA evidence is far from infallible. Truth Machine traces the controversial history of DNA fingerprinting by looking at court cases in the United States and United Kingdom beginning in the mid-1980s, when the practice was invented, and continuing until the present. Ultimately, Truth Machine presents compelling evidence of the obstacles and opportunities at the intersection of science, technology, sociology, and law.

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9780226498065

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Reviews

"""I could not put it down. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of science."" (Times Higher Education) ""An interesting read.... It illustrates that the controversy of DNA profiling is rooted not in the science, but mainly in the restrictions of the adversarial system."" (Nature)"""

Truth Machine is an important book that provides an account of DNA fingerprinting and its evolution. It speaks to a broad audience of researchers and students in criminology, law, history, and sociology, as well as researchers interested in the science itself. I expect this will be a leading book on law and the construction of scientific tools. - Ron Levi, University of Toronto

Author Information

Michael Lynch is professor in the science and technology studies department at Cornell University. Simon A. Cole is the author of Suspect Identities: A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification. Ruth McNally is a senior research fellow at the Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics at Lancaster University. Kathleen Jordan has a PhD in sociology from Boston University and is currently a student at the Rhode Island School of Design.

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