Articles Published by NIJ

A new postmortem image database will be a resource for research in forensic anthropology, pathology, and radiology.

Researchers created an open-access computer program for estimating the age of skeletal remains that outperforms current methods. The algorithm is based on 20 age-related skeletal changes identified by experienced forensic anthropologists.

In response to a National Academy of Sciences report calling for more research on the variability of burn patterns, Underwriters Laboratories scientists conducted studies on how ventilation affects fire patterns in residential structures.

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.

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?

Key questions have arisen about how DNA data are to be interpreted statistically. Two NIJ grants have supported research that has far-reaching implications for testing hypotheses using DNA evidence and expressing confidence in the conclusions reached.

NIJ-funded researchers adapted a method used to detect human exposure to environmental and occupational chemicals to significantly extend the limited time period when tests can identify evidence of certain illicit drugs in the body.

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.