Articles Published by NIJ

Criminal investigators use physiological changes and insect development to determine how long a body has been dead, but scientists are using the trillions of microbes involved in human decomposition to find more accurate postmortem intervals.

The forensic power of DNA is clear, but biological evidence also contains RNA, another potential source of information. Because RNA decomposes quickly, its utility is considered limited. Could this decomposition provide information about a sample’s age?

Humans transfer trace signatures of unique colonies of microbes on our skin to objects we touch. The tiny size of that signature make it difficult for investigators to identify an individual. Research now has made that identification more likely.

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.