From cases like OJ Simpson to Chandra Levy, DNA profiling also called DNA fingerprinting or DNA typing has played an important role in the criminal justice system. The law enforcement community uses DNA profiling to exclude or identify suspects. Unlike hair microscopy, bite mark comparisons, shoe print comparisons, and firearm tool mark analysis, DNA typing was developed through massive scientific research and has undergone extensive research. meticulous scientific evaluation (Innocence Project). DNA is an infallible method for identifying the perpetrator of a crime. Like fingerprints, DNA is unique, except for identical twins; no two people have the same DNA. DNA profiling is a technique capable of identifying the person responsible for a violent crime from the physical traces left at the scene. DNA can also exonerate those who have been wrongly convicted. Judges and prosecutors proclaim that DNA analysis is “the greatest advance in crime-fighting technology” (Aronson, 1). DNA is short for deoxyribonucleic acid. DNA is the genetic material present in the cells of all living organisms. Humans contain approximately one trillion cells (Aronson 9). DNA is a long double helix-shaped strand made up of small building blocks (Riley). There are four types of building blocks called bases linked to DNA: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Each of the bases is represented by the letters A, G, C, and T. The bases are aligned in a specific order, pairs of adenine with thymine and pairs of guanine with cytosine; this determines a person's genetic trait (DNA Initiative). Sections of DNA contain base sequences that repeat multiple times (Saferstein 44). Genes contain the code to make proteins and arrange them int...... center of paper ......Ocence Project: Exonerate the wrongly convicted and help strengthen the criminal justice system. Sheriff, 60(1), 37-39. The Innocence Project. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2011, from http://www.innocenceproject.orgJones, P. (n.d.). Forensic DNA analysis: from RFLP to PCR-STR and beyond. Forensic Journal, 1-3. Retrieved from http://www.forensicmag.com/article/dna-forensics-rflp-pcr-str-and-beyond?page=0,0National Research Council. (1996). Introduction. In The evaluation of forensic DNA evidence. Riley, D. E. (2005, April 6). DNA testing: an introduction for non-scientists. Scientific testimony. Retrieved from http://www.scientific.org/tutorials/articles/riley/riley.htmlSaferstein, R. (2007). DNA is the indispensable tool for forensic science. In Criminalistics (9th ed., pp. 382-416). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. (Original published work 1977)