New Zealand’s DNA laws are out of date, and lack coherency following a series of amendments. The Law Commission has recommended replacing the current law with a new law that is coherent, up-to-date, and culturally appropriate,” she said. “The Commission recommends permitting the use of techniques seen overseas like ‘dragnets’ (asking every person fitting a description, for example ‘male in Christchurch’, to provide a DNA sample); familial testing (searching the databank for a similar-but-not-identical sample, which might indicate that the similar sample is related to the offender); and genealogy searching (using DNA people have sent to companies like ancestry.com).