IN 1988, Lynette White was found stabbed to death in her flat in the Welsh capital, Cardiff. A DNA sample from the crime scene did not match any sample in the UK’s national DNA database, and the murder confounded detectives. Then, in 2003, came a breakthrough. A new technique called familial searching, which retrieves a list of possible relatives of the owner of a particular DNA sample from the database, helped lead detectives to the murderer.
The case showed what a powerful tool familial searching can be. But its broader implications have been given little attention. For example, it brings…
