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Nov. 25th, 2004 10:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingForensic scientists have found a technique to determine how long a DNA sample has been left at the scene of a crime.
It works on something as small as a mililitre of blood, up to 150 days old. It may, in fact, be sensitive enough to determine how old a fingerprint is.
"Extensive research is needed before it can be used in court. For example, the team do not know how the technique is affected by changes in environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. They will also need to find out exactly how it works.
'For this to be bombproof in court, I think the mechanism needs to be explained,' says Nigel Watson, an expert in forensic DNA analysis at the University of Strathclyde in the UK."
It works on something as small as a mililitre of blood, up to 150 days old. It may, in fact, be sensitive enough to determine how old a fingerprint is.
"Extensive research is needed before it can be used in court. For example, the team do not know how the technique is affected by changes in environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. They will also need to find out exactly how it works.
'For this to be bombproof in court, I think the mechanism needs to be explained,' says Nigel Watson, an expert in forensic DNA analysis at the University of Strathclyde in the UK."