BACKGROUND In 2007, 224 persons died in road traffic accidents in Norway. According to the instruction for prosecution, the police should request forensic autopsy in such deaths. The police's adherence to this instruction varies. The aim of this study was to document enforcement of the instruction for prosecution among police districts in two Norwegian counties (North and South Trøndelag). MA...

conglomeration of an array of well established fields, such as microbial genomics, phylogenetics, forensic informatics and classical microbiology. Unlike public health investigations, microbial forensic investigation goes further to associate the source of the causative agent with a specific individual or group. Microbial forensics will be most effective if there is sufficient basic scientific ...

The paper uses insights from the so-called rape in disguise case study to describe forensic DNA practices in the Netherlands in late 1980s. It describes how “reliabilities” of forensic DNA practices were achieved. One such reliability – convincing evidence – proliferates body parts through time and space. Then, attention shifts to the individual who was suspected of having committed the rape. H...

BACKGROUND The high levels of variation characterising the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule are due ultimately to its high average mutation rate; moreover, mtDNA variation is deeply structured in different populations and ethnic groups. There is growing interest in selecting a reduced number of mtDNA single nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNPs) that account for the maximum level of discrimination...

Seven DNA variants that polymorphic genetic marker D16S752 reveals in Croatian population are reported in this paper. The marker is a GATA tetranucleotide repeat linked to human E-cadherin gene (CDH1). Prior studies involving this marker revealed only four DNA allele variants. The reported DNA variants contribute to the collection of hypervariable DNA polymorphisms data useful in the field of a...

Pernambuco is one of the 27 federal units of Brazil, ranking seventh in the number of inhabitants. We examined the allele frequencies of 13 short tandem repeat loci (CFS1PO, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, FGA, TH01, vWA, and TPOX), the minimum recommended by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and commonly used in forensic genetics laboratories in Brazil, in...