This technology is the same used by direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies such as 23andme and deCodeme. At the moment, running a million genetic markers on an array is pricey for police work, costing several hundred dollars per individual compared to about $50 for the 20-marker tests.

Any lab that can analyze DNA using an Illumina or Affymetrix platform could run the test. As costs go down, many are likely to start offering this service.

According to the TGen press release, Commander Brent Vermeer of the Phoenix Police Department crime lab said that DNA evidence is often "rendered useless because of contamination, and that to eventually put the TGen theoretical research into a cost-effective police practice 'would be an amazing asset.'''

To protect patients in studies who had been promised that their data would remain anonymous, the N.I.H. said it has removed the appropriate data of individual gene studies from public viewing.

This should forestall "the unlikely but concerning scenario" that police or F.B.I. agents could compare DNA from a crime scene with an N.I.H. database, Johns Hopkins University bioethicist Kathy Hudson wrote in an email to the GenomeWeb Daily News website.

"While a fairly remote concern, and there are some protections even against subpoena, N.I.H. did the right thing in acting to protect research participants," Hudson wrote.

The data is still available to researchers who apply for access and agree to protect its confidentiality.

The N.I.H. worked closely with the Craig to develop its new policy and knows of no breach to date.