Articles Published by NIJ

Analyzing illicit drugs such as methamphetamine is difficult because the drugs break down when heated in gas chromatographs. Investigators determined that a new method can avoid the heat issue and improve results.

Identifying individuals through next generation DNA sequencing may involve degraded or mixed samples. A researcher has developed a technique to make fragmented DNA more readable, and a method to help pull individual profiles from mixed samples.

The regions of the genome relied on for identification of individuals pose challenges for analysts because they often produce artifacts during processing. NIJ-funded research has led to a solution that lessens the artifact problem.

Forensic scientists have explored whether lifted and archived fingerprints retain forensically useful amounts of DNA.

Scientific inquiry into the process of decomposition has studied a wide range of mammals and developed a fundamental understanding of the stages of decomposition, but forensic scientists should use caution in applying nonhuman data to human bodies.

There is no standard method of detailed documentation of the latent print examination process, but researchers have developed software that improves the standardization and quantifiability, implemented as part of the FBI’s Universal Latent Workstation.