Your DNA on the national police database?

What are the implications of having your DNA on the database? This was a question tackled at our annual student conference in November. Our successful partnership with the Royal Institution continues and Shaping Science 2007 took place at two venues - Thinktank in Birmingham and the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Students at the conference in Birmingham Students and their teachers were welcomed by representatives of the Royal Institution and Nuffield Curriculum Centre and the day began with quick responses to four questions (2.0 MB) that were asked again at the end of the morning to see how thinking might have changed.

Students were able to hear from a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (Carole McCartney in Birmingham and Bronwyn Parry in London). Their recently published report, The forensic use of bioinformation: ethical issues raises many important questions about the collection and use of samples. You can download the London presentation here (570 KB).

Carole McCartney from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics

Follwing a lunch, and the opportunity for staff and students to meet with the speakers and explore the venues, Angela Melamed and Paul Bowers Isaacson shared some advice on the AQA assessment. You can download the presentation (1.2 MB) and handouts (149 KB) here (377 KB).

Steve Humphrey addresses the conference The afternoon concluded with a talk from Steve Humphrey, a toxicology analyst with the Forensic Science Service on the place of forensic science in police investigation. He shared thoughts (1.4 MB) on several cases and the accompanying pictures made some of us wish that we were just a little further from lunch...

Students had the opportunity to discuss Steve’s talk in groups and he responded to a long and varied series of questions submitted on index cards (13 KB).

Thanks to all the staff and students who helped make these two events so successful.

Paul Bowers Isaacson