Military DNA banking

[Hans Goerl <GENETHICS@delphi.com>]

The U.S. military is currently requiring all personnel to provide blood
samples for processing and storage in a DNA bank. The stated purpose of this
program is for assistance in casualty identification. However, other uses of
the genetic information have not been ruled out by The Pentagon.

Last week two US Marines were court-martialled for refusing to give samples.

I would like to find out how much more useful this type of program is than
conventional identification techniques.

Also, given the potential for other uses of this information once it is
collected, would it be feasible to gather substantially equivalent genetic
information from surviving relatives of a suspected deceased?

Any general reactions to the existence of this progrm will be appreciated.

Hans S. Goerl
The Genethics Center