Skip to content
Skip to content
News
The article is more than 12 years old
DNA Testing

100,000 Criminals' DNA on File

A total of 100,000 criminals and criminal suspects have had their genetic information registered in Finland. The National Bureau of Investigation's DNA registry is compared with biological information obtained at crime scenes.

tutkinta laboratoriossa, kädet, kumikäsineet, avattu kirjekuori
Image: YLE

Samples are taken from people who are suspected of crimes that carry a minimum prison sentence of at least six months. The majority of the DNA samples are obtained by swabbing the mouth of suspected criminals.

If the person is found not guilty, his or her genetic information is removed from the DNA bank.

The registry also contains over 11,000 DNA samples from crime scenes. Those samples are also compared with the DNA database for criminals.

DNA samples are also compared to data stored in the registries of other EU countries.

Finland began registering DNA information in 1999.

Sources: YLE