When Madelaine McCann's parents were declared suspects in her disappearance, buttding-edge technology capable of identifying the source of trace amounts of DNA emerged as they key evidence. This film, with Newsnight's science editor, Susan Watts, exposed the shortcomings of the technology concerned: Low Copy Number DNA fingerprinting; it's inception at England's Forensic Science Service and its controversial promotion by the agency in high-profile cases including the murder of Peter Falconio in the Australian outback and the murders of 29 people in the Omagh bombing. This film was the lead story the night it was broadcast and one of Newsnight's stories of the week the following weekend.
