Articles Published by NIJ

Investigators in two NIJ-supported studies have demonstrated that people carry unique microbial communities on their skin, and traces of those communities, left on touched objects, can be linked to the individual.

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.

Two researchers with a long record of research into the forensic value of very small particle populations examined cell phones, handguns, drug packaging, and ski masks from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office to determine if such particles can make phys