A research laboratory just opened in the UK has been designed to help produce forensic science techniques and services for use in the fight against crime.
Fitted with equipment worth almost $17 million, the laboratory is home to hundreds of forensic science service specialists along with marketing, technical, training and support staff.
Funds of $550 million over the last two years have expanded the UK's national DNA database, supporting police collecting DNA evidence from crime scenes. The government wants the database to contain the DNA profiles of an estimated three million active criminals in England and Wales by April 2004.
Recent changes in UK law mean that DNA profiles from those acquitted of a crime are now retained.
