Feb 09 2018
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!
NYPD Cases Among Those Considered for Family DNA Testing (Newsday – 2/4/2018)
- Ten unsolved homicide and rape cases are among the first being considered in New York State for use of the innovative familial DNA searching techniques in the hunt for possible suspects, law enforcement officials said.
The Incredible Science of Ancient DNA (Earth Touch NewsNetwork – 2/6/2018)
- Ancient DNA opens doors to answering many of palaeontology’s perplexing questions, and has dramatically changed how scientists investigate the past.
Meet Cheddar Man: First Modern Britons Had Dark Skin and Blue Eyes (The Washington Post – 2/7/2018)
- A new project from London’s Natural History Museum and University College London has revealed groundbreaking DNA results that give a much clearer image of early British inhabitants. Cheddar Man’s skeleton was discovered in 1903 in Gough’s Cave, located in Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, England. It is thought that the cool temperature in the cave helped to preserve the skeleton’s valuable DNA.
Stable Isotope Forensics: From Victims’ Bones to Matchstick Wood (Forensic Magazine – 2/7/2018)
Wolfram Meier-Augenstein, a German-born scientist working in the United Kingdom, has used the exacting analytical techniques to help identify murder victims, to trace illicit international goods, and even to show where a person lived over the course of their entire life. His work on high-profile cases has been an integral part of the burgeoning field.
Fort Worth Detectives Examine 35-Year-Old Cold Case Through DNA Imaging ( – 1/29/2018)
- But through technology known as DNA phenotyping, detectives have pieced together three composite figures of what Julie’s killer may look like — at the ages of 25, 45 and 65.
Decoding the Redwoods (The Washington Post – 2/7/2018)
- As threats to California’s giant redwoods grow, the key to their salvation might be in their complex genetic code.
How Good a Match is it? Putting Statistics into Forensic Firearms Identification (NIST – 2/8/2018)
- Now, a team of researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a statistical approach for ballistic comparisons that may enable numerical testimony.
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