The Danish Parliament is set to vote on a proposal to allow police to use genetic genealogy in investigations, a move that could significantly expand their ability to solve criminal cases. This decision comes after family searching, the current method, proved crucial in several older serious cases, including a recent charge in a 1999 assault.

Associate Professor Mikkel Meyer Andersen, a DNA evidence expert at Aalborg University, believes that genetic genealogy will statistically lead to more solved criminal cases.

Currently, Danish police are limited to family searches, also known as kinship searches, which can typically only identify very close relatives of a suspect. Genetic genealogy, however, allows investigators to trace DNA much further back, potentially identifying individuals who share common ancestors from generations ago.

The use of these DNA tools gained prominence after a 57-year-old man was charged in connection with the 1999 rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl. Family searching led investigators to the suspect, who has been in custody since December.