Forensics Outfit Tells Cops It Can Use DNA to Predict Suspect Faces

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A private company based in Reston, Virginia, Parabon NanoLabs was founded in 2008 with the mission of creating “breakthrough products” using DNA, with an initial focus on developing cancer therapies. It has since evolved into a prominent purveyor of forensic products, including DNA phenotyping, to police agencies. Though it’s well known among forensic scientists, it maintains a fairly low public profile and publishes few details about its operation online.

According to Parabon, its Snapshot FDP System “accurately” predicts not only eye, hair, and skin color, but also face shape. For a fee, the company will provide law enforcement agencies with a rendering of its predictions in the form of a color composite sketch, along with a “corresponding measure of confidence” in the predicted traits. The company says it has worked with hundreds of police agencies in the nine years it’s been doing this work.

As Parabon’s foothold in the world of forensics deepened, so did the concern among scientists and legal experts, who warn that the company’s sketches are, at best, misleading. Leading experts agree the science has not evolved enough to accurately and reliably provide the kind of singular image Parabon produces for police investigations. Even a scientist who helped develop the technology says it’s not ready for real-world use.

https://theintercept.com/2025/02/02/forensic-dna-phenotyping-parabon-nanolabs-police/

HELLFIRE

Shades of Minority Report? 🙄 🙄

Regards

GrumpyCanadian

As long as we agree that prediction ≠ evidence, and that such services are only ever a vague stab-in-the-dark hint in an otherwise thorough investigative process, maybe it's not such a terrible thing. By the way, those pigs are flying awfully high today, aren't they?

HELLFIRE

GrumpyCanadian As long as we agree that prediction ≠ evidence

...famous last words... 🙄 🙄

/cynical

Regards