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Law & Forensics · Recorded milestone

DNA fingerprinting

Recorded year1984

Alec Jeffreys finds that DNA patterns identify individuals.

Explore this milestone on the interactive map

Built on

Gel electrophoresisRecorded · 1955enables
Recombinant DNARecorded · 1973enables

Led to

National DNA databaseRecorded · 1995enables
Genetic genealogy solves cold casesRecorded · 2018enables
Rapid DNA at crime scenesRecorded · 2025enables

Sources & evidence

Additional source

Dataset updated 2026-10-18. This individual record has not been separately re-reviewed.