Meet Your ISHI 37 Speakers: Kevin Lord
A SNP profile can upload cleanly to GEDmatch, clear every filter, and still be wrong. False-negative segments can knock a real relative off the match list entirely. False-positive segments can send an investigator chasing someone with no biological connection to the sample at all. Astrea Forensics has reanalyzed sequencing data originally generated by other labs […]
Meet Your ISHI 37 Speakers: Stacey Baker
In 2022, pieces of tissue started washing ashore along the Atlantic coast between Palm Beach and Broward Counties. STR and Y-STR testing confirmed the remains were human, and male. There were no bones to estimate age or ancestry. There was no missing persons report to check against. Two labs ran the DNA independently and got […]
This Week in Forensic Science
No one has hours to scour the papers to keep up with the latest news, so we’ve curated the top news stories in the field of Forensic Science for this week. Here’s what you need to know to get out the door! ‘A Miracle’: Teen Murdered Nearly 26 Years Ago Identified Through Genetic Genealogy (CNN – […]
When the SOP Isn’t Enough: How Elyssa Trautmann Solves Cold Cases at FDLE
Cold case DNA work doesn’t fail because analysts aren’t skilled. It stalls because evidence is old, degraded, or formatted in ways the standard operating procedure was never written to address. Sexual assault smears from 1983. Evidence packaged before current collection protocols existed. Items that don’t fit the workflow because the workflow was built for something […]
Building STRmix™ from the Ground Up: A Q&A with ISHI Student Ambassador Kiersten Fultz and Dr. Jo Bright
Building software for probabilistic genotyping is technically demanding. Building it so it holds up in court systems across multiple countries is something different. That distinction drove much of how STRmix™ was designed. Dr. Jo Bright is a Senior Science Leader at the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science, formerly known as ESR. […]
This Week in Forensic Science
No one has hours to scour the papers to keep up with the latest news, so we’ve curated the top news stories in the field of Forensic Science for this week. Here’s what you need to know to get out the door! DNA Evidence Connects Minneapolis Driver to Two Sexual Assaults a Decade Apart, Charges Say […]
Burning Out in the DNA Lab: A Wellness Panel on Stress, Trauma, and Taking Care of Yourself
Forensic DNA analysts spend years learning how to handle evidence. They are not typically taught how to handle what the evidence represents. The bodies, the children, the families waiting — all of it moves through the lab and out the door with the case file, but it does not always leave the analyst. That gap […]
What They’ve Had to Unlearn: A Conversation with the ISHI Advisory Committee
Progress in forensic science isn’t only about what gets added — it’s also about what has to be let go. The ISHI Advisory Committee was asked what they’ve had to unlearn throughout their careers. The answers are about language, leadership, identity, and scope. https://youtu.be/12CTfQpKgNI Shena Latcham’s answer is about language — and how much of […]
This Week in Forensic Science
No one has hours to scour the papers to keep up with the latest news, so we’ve curated the top news stories in the field of Forensic Science for this week. Here’s what you need to know to get out the door! Riverside County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau and the Riverside Cold Case Homicide Team Leverage […]