The large number of successful investigations ensured by the new capabilities of forensic genetics, had been followed whit great media attention,particularly since the early nineties; as a result, the role and potentialities of this subject often were distorted or misunderstood. Specifically, in the recent years, the general public, and not only, have started to assume that genetically-based personal identification techniques could be considered a sufficient and also necessary device in order to collect all the elements and evidences needed to solve a case. Through the reconstruction and analysis of three specific cases (Carretta, Bilancia and Novi Ligure) that were solved making use of genetic identification systems, the authorstry to propose a less sensational,but more likely and balanced evaluation of forensic genetics potentialities in its applications to the field of criminology. Infact, an accurate analysis of the general investigative context the contribution of forensic genetics is integrated in,on the one hand allows to remark the importance and indispensability of traditional investigative methodologies, and, on the other hand, to point out certain forensic genetics application limits, from both a practical and theoretical point of view. Therefore, in the article the authors question the hypothesis according to which the introduction of the genetic test implies a revolution in the investigative methodologies. On the contrary they do state that the introduction of genetic analysis techniques of evidences simply has to be considered as the acquisition of a new and effective device that is meant to support and integrate the traditional ones, and not to replace them
