Source: The Wall Street Journal (paywall)
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz demonstrated that machine learning models can manipulate the digital output of DNA sequencers—the instruments that generate the data prosecutors use to identify suspects—while leaving no forensic trace of tampering. The finding undermines a foundational assumption in criminal justice: that digitized scans from lab machines are reliable records. It also exposes a new attack surface in evidence chains that labs and courts have treated as computationally opaque. The vulnerability sits in the gap between physical DNA and the software interpretation of it, where AI can now operate invisibly.