10 TV Shows That Got Science Completely Wrong

10. Southern Blotting - X-Files

DNA testing is something a lot of TV shows get wrong, especially in previous decades when even less was known about them. And while The X-Files typically got it right in the science department (at least in the original run), no show looks 100% good in their first season. So, it should come as no surprise that there's at least one pretty glaring hiccup there.

In the season 1 episode "The Erlenmeyer Flask", Scully uses a laboratory technique known as Southern Blot - typically used as a means of detecting a specific DNA sequence in a blood or tissue sample - to learn if she has an alien disease. Most if it is shown correctly, save for the timeframe in which this takes place. Normally, Southern Blotting takes around 72 hours to yield any kind of results. In the episode, Scully is done in about 3.

Which is why this entry is at the bottom, since this was obviously done under the time constraints of a TV episode timeslot. But nevertheless, a 72-hour process being condensed down to a mere 3 is a pretty glaring trip-up in how DNA testing works.