Innocence After Guilt Episode 4: Causes of Wrongful Convictions
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, there have been 3,337 exonerations since 1989 accounting for more than 29,500 years lost. In our quest for justice, how do we work to eliminate wrongful convictions? What has history taught us? What role has forensic DNA played since its emergence? In this video series we delve into […]
Project Prism: Investigating Toronto’s Missing Men
On April 30th, 2017, Selim Esen was reported missing to the Toronto Police. On June 29th, 2017, Andrew Kinsman was reported missing to the Toronto Police. In early July 2017, the need to create a dedicated task force to investigate their disappearances was identified. The mandate of Project PRISM was to investigate these two disappearances […]
This Week in Forensic Science
No one has hours to scour the papers to keep up with the latest news, so we’ve curated the top news stories in the field of Forensic Science for this week. Here’s what you need to know to get out the door! Scientists Release the First Complete Sequence of a Human Y Chromosome […]
Previewing the Posters of our ISHI Student Ambassadors: Cassandra Skrant
Monozygotic twins are difficult to differentiate in a forensic laboratory because they come from the same zygote. This causes the standard STR typing method used within forensic laboratories to be unable to distinguish monozygotic twins. Cassandra’s research assessed the usefulness of pyrosequencing CpG sites to determine if DNA methylation can be used to discriminate monozygotic […]
Locating and Identifying Victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre: A Forensic Anthropological Perspective
On October 19, 2020, in a corner of what was once the African American section of the Potter’s Field in Tulsa’s Oaklawn Cemetery, a backhoe begins scraping away layer after layer of red Oklahoma earth. Workers in high-visibility vests and orange hard hats prepare to join the excavation. Phoebe Stubblefield, Interim Director of the C.A. […]
Lowering the Financial Barrier to Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy by Using Blood Cards
Travis chats with Kevin Lord, Director of Lab and Agency Logistics for the DNA Doe Project. He updates Travis on the number of solves that the non-profit has assisted with and shares why an agency may turn to forensic investigative genetic genealogy (FIGG) rather than traditional investigative techniques. Kevin also discusses the technologies and methods […]
This Week in Forensic Science
No one has hours to scour the papers to keep up with the latest news, so we’ve curated the top news stories in the field of Forensic Science for this week. Here’s what you need to know to get out the door! Identifying Fire Victims Through DNA Analysis Can Be Challenging – A […]
August 2023 Issue of The ISHI Report Now Live
Greetings and welcome to the August edition of the ISHI Report. As summer winds to a close here in Madison, WI, our team is engaged in final preparations for the 34th ISHI. We’ll look forward to seeing many of you at the symposium in Denver, Colorado. This issue features contributions from authors who […]
Previewing the Posters of our ISHI Student Ambassadors: Julia Wang
Conventional methods for testing sexual assault evidence are based on preferential lysis and rely on the presence spermatozoa to identify perpetrators. Low concentrations of male DNA and mixtures of perpetrator and victim DNA complicate profile interpretation. Consequently, evidence that screens negative for presence of semen, spermatozoa, or male DNA is often considered to have minimal […]
