This section outlines new technologies used to collect genetic data through genotyping and sequencing and how these technologies may arise in litigation. It also raises questions for federal judges to consider when reviewing evidence from these technologies.

In United States v. Casey,[1] the president of a Virginia seafood company pleaded guilty in federal court to fraudulently labeling thousands of pounds of foreign crabmeat as a “Product of the USA.”[2] Critical to the case was evidence from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which tested the DNA of the processed crab meat and identified its geographic origin outside of North American waters.[3] This case is just one of many examples where NOAA has applied genetic testing of seafood to prove illegal fishing and seafood mislabeling.

The approach NOAA investigators used to identify the origin of the mislabeled seafood leveraged new DNA sequencing technologies that make collecting genetic data fast, cheap, and reliable.[4] New DNA technologies present novel challenges to the courts, and their use has expanded DNA evidence beyond traditional forensic identification to include consumer fraud, patent law, and medical liability. Importantly, these new technologies collect substantially more information about an individual than traditional forensic DNA identification methods, raising concerns about genetic privacy.

The technologies used to collect genetic data and detect genetic sequence variation are broadly distinguished into two categories: DNA sequencing and DNA genotyping. While this section describes the application of these technologies to humans, the technologies are equally applicable to nonhuman organisms, including other animals, plants, bacteria, and viruses. This section concludes with a more detailed discussion of the Casey case and suggests some relevant questions for federal judges to consider when hearing similar cases that employ new DNA sequencing technologies.