Key Dates in the History of DNA Profiling

1953 James Watson and Francis Crick publish landmark paper identifying the structure of DNA.

1980 American geneticists discover a region of DNA that does not hold any genetic information and which is extremely variable between individuals.

1984 Alec Jeffreys discovers a method of identifying individuals from DNA - Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP). He dubs it 'DNA Fingerprinting'.

1985 Police in the UK first use forensic DNA profiling.

1986 Kary Mullis discovers Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method of replicating particular regions of a DNA molecule.

1987 In the UK, police use DNA profiling in the celebrated Pitchfork case to clear a seventeen year old suspect of two rape-murders. Police collect blood samples from over 5,000 local men to identify the perpetrator, Colin Pitchfork.

1987 Also in the UK, Robert Melias is convicted of rape. He becomes the first person to be convicted of a crime on the basis of DNA evidence.

1989 In the USA, Gary Dotson becomes the first person to have a conviction overturned on the basis of DNA evidence. Dotson has served 8 years of a 25 - 50 year sentence for rape.

1989 Australia's first court case involving DNA evidence. In an ACT court, Desmond Applebee is convicted of three counts of sexual assault. Applebee changes his defence from "I wasn't there" to "the woman consented" after a blood sample matches him to DNA extracted from blood and semen on the victim's clothes.

1989 In Victoria, police secure the conviction of George Kaufman who raped sixteen women over a four year period in Melbourne's south eastern suburbs. Confronted with DNA evidence, Kaufman confesses.

1989 The Federal Government and several States and Territories begin developing regulatory standards for DNA collection and handling procedures.

1992 National Institute of Forensic Science commences operations. Amongst its roles are the development of national standards of quality control and accreditation of forensic laboratories throughout Australia.

1995 The world's first national DNA database commences operations in the UK on 10 April 1995.

1996 In the USA, mitochondrial DNA evidence is used in a court for the first time. Paul Ware is convicted of the rape and murder of a four year old girl after mitochondrial DNA profiling matches him to a hair found on the body of the child.

1996 Rodney Winters is convicted of the rape and murder of a woman at South Australia's Edinburgh Air Force base 14 years earlier. After DNA profiling matches him to semen found on the dead woman, Winters confesses.

1997 Police services endorse the establishment of a national criminal DNA database and form a working party.

1997 Victoria becomes the first jurisdiction in Australia to enact legislation regulating the use of a DNA database.

1998 In the USA, the FBI sets up the National DNA Index System, enabling city, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies to compare DNA profiles electronically.

1998 Australian forensic laboratories agree to a common national standard for obtaining DNA profiles.

1998 The Australian Federal Government commits $50m to establish CrimTrac, with a national DNA database as a central element.

1999 Victorian police obtain first 'cold' hit from state DNA database - the DNA profile of convicted thief Wallid Haggag is matched to blood found in a car used in a burglary for which he was not previously a suspect.

2000 Following the sexual assault of a 91 year old woman in Wee Waa, New South Wales police take DNA samples from 500 local men aged between 18 and 45. Stephen Boney confesses shortly afterwards, before his sample can be analysed.

2000 In the UK, the Forensic Science Service announces that the number of DNA profiles of suspects and convicted criminals on the national DNA database has reached one million or roughly one third of the estimated criminally active population.