Biology applied to crime + identification: DNA fingerprinting / STR profiling / mtDNA / forensic-anthropology / time-since-death / forensic-entomology / wildlife forensics / molecular barcoding.
Forensic Biology
DNA fingerprinting (Jeffreys)
Jeffreys 1985 minisatellite-VNTR; 1986 first criminal-case (Pitchfork UK). RFLP → STR → SNP-array progression. Foundational…
STR profiling + CODIS
FBI CODIS 13 → 20-loci STR (since 2017). Random-match-probability ~10^-15 with 20 loci. Foundation of modern forensic-DNA.…
Mitochondrial DNA (forensics)
Maternally-inherited; high-copy-number → degraded-sample analysis (skeletal-remains / hair-shaft / old-DNA). HV1 / HV2 hypervariable…
Forensic anthropology (Bass)
Bass 1971 'Human Osteology'. Osteological identification: sex / age / ancestry / stature / trauma from skeletal-remains. Body-Farm…
Time since death (taphonomy)
Postmortem decomposition stages: fresh / bloat / decay / butyric / dry. Algor-livor-rigor-mortis. Forensic-taphonomy + forensic-entomology…
Touch DNA + low template
Findlay 1997 / Wickenheiser 2002 low-template-DNA from skin-cell transfer. STR-amplification of 10-100 cells. Touch-DNA evidence…
Forensic DNA databases (CODIS / NDNAD / EU)
FBI CODIS (~17M profiles); UK NDNAD (~6M); EU Prüm. Familial-search controversies. GEDmatch + 23andMe (Golden State Killer 2018). Privacy +…
Forensic toxicology (GC-MS / LC-MS/MS)
Drug + poison detection in body-fluids + tissues post-mortem. SOFT/AAFS guidelines. Designer drugs + opioid-crisis fentanyl + xylazine.…
Forensic genetic genealogy (FGG)
Moore 2018 Golden State Killer / DeAngelo identified via GEDmatch SNP-genealogy + FBI. Identifies suspects via long-IBD shared with…
DNA mixture interpretation
Probabilistic-genotyping (STRmix / TrueAllele) for mixed-source DNA. Likelihood-ratio framework. Validation studies essential. Replaces…
DNA phenotyping (Snapshot / Parabon)
Predict eye-color + hair-color + skin-color + ancestry + face-shape from SNP-data alone. Used in unidentified-remains + suspect-leads.…
Wildlife forensics (CITES / illegal trade)
Wasser 2009 elephant-ivory DNA-trace; Wildlife-Forensic-Sciences-Society. Illegal-trade ($23B/yr black-market). Species-identification via…
DNA fingerprinting (Jeffreys 1985)
A Jeffreys 1985 first DNA-fingerprint; modern STR-CODIS 20-loci + Y-STR + mtDNA; foundation of forensic-genetics + paternity-testing.
Forensic entomology (Greenberg)
Greenberg 1991 + Goff 2000 forensic-entomology; succession-based PMI estimation; modern molecular-species-ID + isotope-analysis.
Touch DNA (van Oorschot 1997)
Van Oorschot-Jones 1997 touch-DNA; modern <100 pg sub-source level identification; PowerPlex Y23 enhancement.
Isotopic forensics
Fraser-Meier-Augenstein 2008 stable-isotope geographic-origin via H/O/C/N/S; modern hair-isotope-mapping for unidentified-remains.
Genealogical DNA (Snapshot)
Parabon-Snapshot 2017 + GEDmatch 2018 genetic-genealogy; modern Golden State Killer 2018 + 200+ cold-cases solved.
Forensic microbiome (Fierer 2010)
Fierer 2010 + Hampton-Marcell 2017 skin-microbiome forensic-utility; surface-touched microbiome reveals individual-occupancy.