DNA matches against the national database aren’t often used to solve crimes. Now 1 in 350 of crimes doesn’t seem high or low,really. I wonder how often DNA taken during an investigation is used? The figure in the article is that 33,000 (1 in 40) crimes are solved using DNA matches. So CSI isn’t so wild after all, and the national database doesn’t help very much with DNA matches.
In related news, fMRI isn’t particularly repeatable yet, so we still have to take results with a few pinches of salt.