The work of Sir Alec Jeffreys on DNA fingerprinting

12 September 2002, University of Leicester

The Historic Chemical Landmark to mark the work of Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys on DNA fingerprinting took place as part of the British Association Festival of Science at the University of Leicester on the 12 September 2002.

With the exception of identical twins, we all have a unique genetic code. DNA fingerprinting uses this fact to identify or eliminate suspects in criminal cases and for identifying human remains. It is also used to resolve paternity and immigration disputes, and can be applied to non-human species, for example in wildlife forensic investigations.

The Historic Chemical Landmark event began with Professor Jeffreys' talk on Genetic Fingerprinting, which formed part of the Genetics, Science and Society session of the Festival of Science. This was extremely well attended, with queues forming out of the door of the lecture theatre and people sitting in the aisles for an opportunity to hear Sir Alec's presentation.

At the end of the talk Professor Sir Harry Kroto, president of the RSC, gave a short address before inviting Professor Jeffreys to unveil a plaque commemorating the event.

The plaque reads:

In 1984 the principles behind DNA fingerprinting were discovered in this building by Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys and his research group. Forensic investigations now regularly use the technique, which has revolutionised forensic science.