Is DNA fingerprinting reliable ?

[angelyn1985]

is it really a perfect method in fields like forensic science?
Does it do no mistakes ? I am just wondering.

[MrMistery]

if you don't screw up the protocol, theoretically it is very reliable.

[Darby]

The odds of a mistake seem remote, but the testing for varied ethnic groups has been spotty (the developers are sure it doesn't matter, but they don't actually have data), and the issue of relatedness is not as well-researched as it could be - there should be a clear distinction between family members, but is that well supported by broad evidence-?

[wbla3335]

Fingerprinting provides probability estimates. The more loci you examine, and the higher the variability of each locus in the population, the better the fingerprinting reliability will be.