Oh Lord, no....

Please tell me that this isn't a real story?

We're told endlessly that if only the authorities knew everything about us, out DNA, then they would be able to find those who committed the crimes.

Mhhmm, hmm?

German police are struggling to explain why they chased a phantom serial killer for 16 years after confusion over an innocent woman's DNA samples.

Police in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg had searched since 1993 for a woman they believed had taken part in more than 40 crimes, from murders to muggings. Her DNA was found repeatedly at crime scenes in Germany, France and Austria.

But the DNA came from an unsuspecting woman working at a factory in southern Germany, where cotton swabs are produced for the police force, investigators said.

No, sorry, it ain't true.

DNA is very good at making sure that someone didn't committ the crime. But that's all it is, a tool in investigating crime. Nothing will replace the holistic view.

Who? Why? When?

Forget that and the guilty go free and the innocent get jailed.