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34 Wake Forest L. Rev. 889 (1999)
The Use of Genetic Testing in the Courtroom

handle is hein.journals/wflr34 and id is 899 raw text is: THE USE OF GENETIC TESTING IN THE COURTROOM Randi B. Weiss* G. Criston Windham** Patricia G. Scales*** Brandy K Gillenwater*** Drew H. McNeill***** The use of genetic testing to produce a profile of an individual's unique genetic make-up is being introduced in litigation with increasing frequency and acceptance. In civil cases, test results have been employed primarily to prove individual identity. As testing methodologies become more sophisticated, the use of ge- netic test results is likely to expand, particularly in toxic tort litigation, to provide evidence of causation. An overview of test- ing techniques and their reliability is presented herein. Also included is a discussion of present and future implications of such testing in civil litigation. * J.D. Candidate, Wake Forest University School of Law, 2000, Ph.D., Temple University School of Medicine, 1987, M.S., Temple University School of Medicine, 1983, B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1980. This author received her Ph.D. in molecular pathology and her M.S. in microbiology and immunol- ogy. Member, Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge and Rice, PLLC, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. J.D., Wake Forest University School of Law, 1976, B.A., Wake Forest University, 1972. Associate, Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge and Rice, PLLC, Winston- Salem, North Carolina. J.D., Wake Forest University School of Law, 1985, B.S., Guilford College, 1975. Associate, Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge and Rice, PLLC, Winston- Salem, North Carolina. J.D., Arizona State University School of Law, 1997, M.A., 1997, B.A., 1993, Arizona State University. * : B.A., Wake Forest University, 1980. The authors are attorneys, scientists, and analysts comprising part of the Litigation Resource Group of Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge, and Rice. This mul- tidisciplinary team supports trial counsel in litigation involving medical and scientific issues. We would like to thank Janet Kennedy, Jeremy Chapman, and Tim Turner for their research assistance and Cindy Isaacs and Susan Barnes for their sec- retarial assistance. 889