American Civil Liberties Union

Born soldiers may say they have "combat in our genes" — but a new report suggests the Pentagon may want to give the phrase whole new meaning by turning DNA into the next military battleground.

The report, prepared by a defense science advisory panel known as JASON and reported by Secrecy News and HuffPost's Dan Froomkin, among others, recommends that the military take advantage of the rapidly falling cost of gene sequencing by preparing to engage in the mass sequencing of the genomes of all military personnel. According to the report, the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Veteran's Administration (VA)

Yesterday, the Supreme Court found that Texas death row inmate Hank Skinner has the right to pursue testing of DNA evidence that could prove his innocence. Among the outstanding items that still have not been DNA tested: at least three possible murder weapons and a rape kit. SCOTUSblog reported yesterday:

In March, we told you about the case of Henry "Hank" Skinner, who was convicted of the 1993 murder of his girlfriend and her two adult sons. Skinner came within 24 hours of being executed before the Supreme Court granted a last-minute stay so it could decide if it would review his case.