The use of genetic databases by the police and justice system has risen dramatically over the last 20 years, particularly in France, which has the second largest database in Europe. In such a context, this article analyses the legal and scientific effects of the forensic use of DNA on the formation of individuals’ (bio)identities in France. More specifically, we adopt a line of investigation that builds out from forms of resistance to genetic databases. Our methodology draws on a series of interviews and observations of legal proceedings against people who have refused to give DNA samples. In the first part of this text, we focus on the ‘jurisdiction effects’ of the DNA database being expanded to populations, showing that legal classifications (offender, suspect, etc.) constitute a key issue for these opponents. We then go on to analyse the ‘veridiction effects’ at work among social actors, in terms of the medical information/information related to origin that is conveyed (or not) by DNA profiles. In conclusion, we show that genetic analyses applied in a criminal context to populations, rather than simply individuals, shift (bio)identities through these dual effects, which form the basis of opponents’ resistance to genetic databases.

中文翻译：

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在法国反对法医使用 DNA：管辖权和核实效果

过去 20 年来，警察和司法系统对基因数据库的使用急剧增加，特别是在拥有欧洲第二大数据库的法国。在这样的背景下，本文分析了法医使用 DNA 对法国个人（生物）身份形成的法律和科学影响。更具体地说，我们采用了从对遗传数据库的抗性形式建立起来的一系列调查。我们的方法借鉴了对拒绝提供 DNA 样本的人的法律诉讼的一系列采访和观察。在本文的第一部分，我们重点关注扩展到人群的 DNA 数据库的“管辖权效应”，表明法律分类（罪犯、嫌疑人等）构成了这些反对者的关键问题。然后，我们继续分析社会参与者之间工作的“验证效应”，根据 DNA 谱传达（或不传达）与来源相关的医学信息/信息。总之，我们表明，在犯罪背景下应用于人群的遗传分析，而不是简单的个人，通过这些双重效应改变了（生物）身份，这构成了反对者抵制遗传数据库的基础。