DNA -- it's a key clue in TV dramas, in addition to helping crack old cases in the real world. Today, all over the country, detectives are re-examining evidence collected at the time of the crime, comparing it to so-called "abandoned" DNA, like the saliva on Athan's letter. Detectives are solving crimes using sweat collected from a steering wheel, or saliva from a discarded cigarette butt. In a Detroit case, it was spit on a leftover cinnamon roll that sent a man to jail for car theft.
"People leave parts of themselves all over all of the time," said Seattle Police homicide detective Nathan James. "DNA is like fingerprints, only better. It is just more precise than fingerprints. At this point it is more reliable than fingerprints."
While I see the concern regarding the fact that there is no reasonable way that someone can pass through their life and not leave DNA some where, abandoned, it is a weak argument. Arguably this is less of a violation than the standard tactic of going to court to get a warrant, or confronting the suspect and heavily requesting a sample. If the person under investigation turns out to not be the right person, the person might never even know that he was being investigated.
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