Making DNA evidence: More than genes and technology

This article discusses the practices and arrangements through which traces are turned into DNA evidence that connects a particular person to a particular crime through their genetic setup. However, it argues, this genetic setup and the technology to access it are only one element of making DNA evidence. What is at least as important is how these genetics are made part of the criminal justice process. This article argues that making genetics useful for criminal justice is work—and, more than that, continuous work—that moreover is embedded into legal and organizational as well as other sociocultural arrangements. It discusses some of that work and these arrangements—databases and how profiles are curated; finding possible suspect to compare a crime scene trace to; and making a DNA match meaningful for the case—to show how DNA evidence is much more than genetics.