National Institute of Justice and University of South Carolina Date August 2016 Overview The detection, collection, and analysis of blood evidence recovered from a crime scene is critical in a forensic investigation because of the potential DNA it carries. However,…
Category: Biology & DNA (page 26)
Success Story: Customizing NextGENe Software for Forensic Applications
National InstituteĀ of Justice and CHORI – Collaboration with SoftGeneticsĀ® and California Department of Justice Date April 2016 Overview Degraded and mixed DNA samples are often encountered in forensic cases and pose interpretation challenges. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers are ideal targets…
Success Story: Addressing a Key Challenge for PCR-Based Forensic Tests
National Institute of Justice and DNA Polymerase Technologies Date April 2016 Overview Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) inhibitors are present in blood, soil, and reagents, and represent a key challenge for PCR-based forensic tests, resulting in false negatives and poor sensitivity…
Success Story: Introducing New Methods for DNA Analysis
National Institute of Justice and Midwest Research Institute Date April 2015 Overview Dr. Micah Halpern, formerly of Midwest Research Institute, used National Institute of Justice (NIJ) research grants to develop a unique genotyping method that is capable of rapidly producing…
Success Story: Advancing Rapid DNA Analysis
National Institute of Justice and NetBio Date April 2015 Overview Using research grants provided by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), NetBio of Waltham, MA, developed a Rapid DNA Analysis (RDA) system that is much faster at developing DNA profiles…
Success Story: Understanding the Ecology of Human Decomposition Methods for Estimating Postmortem Interval
National Institute of Justice and the National Museum of Health and Medicine Date April 2015 Overview Data on the microbiome of decomposing and skeletonized remains are providing an avenue for understanding how microbial communities may be used to augment medicolegal…
Success Story: Improving Identification of Mexican Hispanic Remains
National Institute of Justice and Texas State University Date April 2015 Overview In the United States, the Mexican Hispanic population ranks second in total size, yet Mexican Hispanic individuals often remain unidentified in forensic anthropological cases. The reason? There has…
Success Story: Bringing Short Tandem Repeat DNA Identification to Law Enforcement
National Institute of Justice, UC Berkeley, and IntegenX Date April 2015 Overview Dr. Richard Mathies, chemist and professor at UC, Berkeley, was awarded NIJ funding to develop faster, more reliable, higher throughput, more sensitive, and more integrated technologies for forensic…