tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/forensics-australia-1228/articlesForensics Australia – The Conversation2019-07-01T19:43:07Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1176622019-07-01T19:43:07Z2019-07-01T19:43:07Z‘This is going to affect how we determine time since death’: how studying body donors in the bush is changing forensic science<p>On the outskirts of Sydney, in a secret bushland location, lies what’s officially known as the <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/about/faculty-science/after-facility/about-us">Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research</a> (AFTER). In books and movies, it’d be called a body farm. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280632/original/file-20190621-149831-3k0kka.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280632/original/file-20190621-149831-3k0kka.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/280632/original/file-20190621-149831-3k0kka.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280632/original/file-20190621-149831-3k0kka.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280632/original/file-20190621-149831-3k0kka.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280632/original/file-20190621-149831-3k0kka.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280632/original/file-20190621-149831-3k0kka.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/280632/original/file-20190621-149831-3k0kka.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Maiken Ueland at the AFTER facility run by UTS.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied by UTS</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Taphonomy is the study of how an organism breaks down after death. Research underway at the University of Technology Sydney’s AFTER facility is yielding some surprising new findings about how bodies decompose in the Australian bush.</p>
<p>And here’s an astonishing detail: until AFTER opened in Sydney in 2016, there was no facility like it in the southern hemisphere. Most of the world’s taphonomic research came from the US, meaning we were missing vital clues relating to how Australian weather, bugs and climate conditions affect the way a human body decomposes in the bush.</p>
<p>Today on our podcast, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/podcasts/trust-me-podcast">Trust Me, I’m An Expert</a>, we take you on a journey to AFTER. The facility’s interim director, Maiken Ueland, and PhD student Samara Garrett-Rickman share with us:</p>
<ul>
<li>some of the unexpected findings emerging from AFTER on determining time since death;</li>
<li>why AFTER researchers prefer not to use the term “body farm”;</li>
<li>how the stages of decomposition work </li>
<li>a process of “mummification” that research suggests may be unique to Australian bushland conditions;</li>
<li>what the TV shows get wrong about forensic science; </li>
<li>why it’s harder to bury a body than most people think; </li>
<li>what investigators look for to spot a clandestine grave;</li>
</ul>
<p>And if you’re interested in finding out more about how to donate your body for such research, you can start <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/about/faculty-science/after-facility/body-donation">here</a>. </p>
<h2>New to podcasts?</h2>
<p>Podcasts are often best enjoyed using a podcast app. All iPhones come with the Apple Podcasts app already installed, or you may want to listen and subscribe on another app such as Pocket Casts (click <a href="https://pca.st/VTv7">here</a> to listen to Trust Me, I’m An Expert on Pocket Casts).</p>
<p>You can also hear us on Stitcher, Spotify or any of the apps below. Just pick a service from one of those listed below and click on the icon to find Trust Me, I’m An Expert.</p>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/trust-me-im-an-expert/id1290047736?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D8"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233721/original/file-20180827-75984-1gfuvlr.png" alt="Listen on Apple Podcasts" width="268" height="68"></a> <a href="https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uY29tL2F1L3BvZGNhc3RzL3RydXN0LW1lLXBvZGNhc3QucnNz"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233720/original/file-20180827-75978-3mdxcf.png" alt="" width="268" height="68"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-conversation/trust-me-im-an-expert"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233716/original/file-20180827-75981-pdp50i.png" alt="Stitcher" width="300" height="88"></a> <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/Trust-Me-Im-An-Expert-p1035757/"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233723/original/file-20180827-75984-f0y2gb.png" alt="Listen on TuneIn" width="318" height="125"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://radiopublic.com/trust-me-im-an-expert-Wa3E5A"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-152" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233717/original/file-20180827-75990-86y5tg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" alt="Listen on RadioPublic" width="268" height="87"></a> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/7myc7drbLJVaRitAMXLB7V"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237984/original/file-20180925-149976-1ks72uy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" width="268" height="82"></a> </p>
<hr>
<h2>Additional audio</h2>
<p>Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from <a href="https://www.elefanttraks.com/">Elefant Traks.</a></p>
<p>Backyard by <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/David_Szesztay/20170730112627760/Backyard_1620">David Szesztay</a> from Free Music Archive</p>
<h2>Images</h2>
<p>UTS/Anna Zhu</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117662/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
On the outskirts of Sydney, in a secret bushland location, lies what's officially known as the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research. In books or movies, it'd be called a body farm.Sunanda Creagh, Senior EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/140722013-05-22T20:41:25Z2013-05-22T20:41:25ZCovert recordings as evidence in court: the return of police ‘verballing’?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/23403/original/9gy3npr8-1368073158.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C77%2C1000%2C700&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is it reasonable to expect juries to spend the time needed to check police transcripts against the audio when lawyers themselves do not?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Everett Collection</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Today, we take it for granted that police interviews with suspects will be electronically recorded and independently transcribed. That hasn’t always been the case. Police were once <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_%22Gunner%22_Kelly">allowed to testify</a> – with no evidence other than their own notes – that a suspect had made a “verbal confession”, with courts liable to accept the officer’s word against that of the defendant.</p>
<p>During the 1990s, reforms aiming to prevent this kind of “verballing” (and false accusations of verballing), were brought on by widely publicised investigations such as the <a href="http://www.pic.nsw.gov.au/Report.aspx?ReportId=100">Wood Royal Commission</a>.</p>
<p>What is not so well-known is that at around the same time, other reforms were inadvertently giving police a new way to “put words in suspects’ mouths” – this time without even needing a conscious intention to do so. </p>
<p>The context was the increasing use of legally obtained covert recordings from listening devices or telephone intercepts. These can provide valuable evidence not available by other means. However, uncontrollable conditions mean their audio quality is often very poor, to the extent no-one can make out what is said – except police working on the case.</p>
<p>For this reason, the law now allows police to present transcripts of indistinct audio they have listened to many times - in the role of a so-called “ad hoc expert”. </p>
<p>But police have no real expertise in transcription, so their transcripts are often inaccurate, incomplete or otherwise unreliable.</p>
<p>To guard against unreliable transcripts influencing juries, legal practice requires the judge to caution that the real evidence is the audio, and the jury should rely on their own ears to determine what is said, using the transcript only as an aid.</p>
<p>But is this a sufficient safeguard? Long-established findings from the science of phonetics suggest it is unrealistic to expect a jury to resist the “priming” effect of an inaccurate transcript.</p>
<p>This was confirmed by a <a href="https://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/IJSLL/article/view/11212">2011 experiment</a> using the “disputed utterance” from a real murder trial. Participants played the audio repeatedly, while evidence from the case was gradually revealed to them. At a certain point, the (inaccurate) police transcript was suggested.</p>
<p>The graph below shows how easy it is for listeners to be influenced by an inaccurate transcript and, crucially, how hard it is to “unhear” words once they have been “heard”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/23964/original/gmjg8czx-1368700571.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/23964/original/gmjg8czx-1368700571.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23964/original/gmjg8czx-1368700571.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23964/original/gmjg8czx-1368700571.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23964/original/gmjg8czx-1368700571.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23964/original/gmjg8czx-1368700571.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23964/original/gmjg8czx-1368700571.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Graph One.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Helen Fraser</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At first, virtually no-one heard anything like the police transcript, but as soon as it was suggested, one-third confidently “heard” the suggested words. More importantly, many continued to “hear” the words, even after being told that experts on both sides agreed those words had never been spoken.</p>
<p><a href="http://forensictranscription.com.au/">Recent experiments</a> take these results further, using an excerpt from a long, barely audible conversation used in another murder trial, and again priming participants with an inaccurate police transcript. </p>
<p>One finding, graphed below, is that when participants were encouraged to listen carefully and critically to the audio, almost all who had accepted the police transcript when it was suggested now rejected it. The police transcript is not only inaccurate, but implausible.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/23385/original/2x63ntvp-1368058258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/23385/original/2x63ntvp-1368058258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23385/original/2x63ntvp-1368058258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23385/original/2x63ntvp-1368058258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23385/original/2x63ntvp-1368058258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23385/original/2x63ntvp-1368058258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/23385/original/2x63ntvp-1368058258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Graph Two.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Helen Fraser</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This raises the question: why was the manifest inaccuracy of this police transcript not picked up by either the defence or prosecution – before it was admitted as evidence for a jury to evaluate?</p>
<p>Part of the answer is suggested by another finding shown in the graph above. Those who knew the context of the case were more likely to agree with the inaccurate transcript, and less likely to reject it when an alternative was suggested, than those who heard the recording “cold”.</p>
<p>Perhaps it is not just juries who can be “primed” by an inaccurate transcript. </p>
<p>Lawyers involved in a case, whether for prosecution or defence, always know the context. Of course, in principle, they should check the audio and its transcription critically, as they do other evidence, and if necessary send it for evaluation by an independent expert. However, there are reasons why they might be inclined simply to accept the police version.</p>
<p>Listening carefully to lengthy, barely audible recordings is unpleasant and time-consuming. Participants in the experiments spent at least ten minutes listening to a 14-second excerpt. At that rate it would take around 20 hours to critique the transcript of the entire half-hour recording.</p>
<p>It is surely understandable, then, if lawyers accept the assurance - offered by the law itself - that police “ad hoc expertise” means the transcript is likely reliable, and in any case the jury will be cautioned to listen carefully to the audio, using the transcript only as an aid. </p>
<p>The problem is that the law on this topic is unsound. Police are experts in solving crimes, not in transcription – and can themselves be unconsciously “primed” by their knowledge of the case. And surely it can hardly be reasonable to expect juries to spend the time needed to check police transcripts against the audio, when lawyers do not?</p>
<p>It is important to emphasise that none of this constitutes criticism of individuals in the law and law enforcement professions. </p>
<p>Reliable, unbiased evidence is best achieved not by the will of individuals but by the design of the system. That is why medical science (for example) has developed a system of double-blind analysis of experimental results.</p>
<p>The stakes in criminal trials are no less high than those in medical trials. Law reform is urgently required to make it far harder than it currently is for inaccurate and misleading transcripts to be accepted as reliable evidence.</p>
<p>In the meantime, it is up to individuals to prevent this new form of “verballing”, by making themselves aware of how commonly police transcripts are inaccurate, and how easily inaccurate transcripts can “prime” listeners to “hear” words that were never spoken.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>For an opportunity to hear the audio discussed above under experimental conditions (takes ten minutes and is completely anonymous) click <a href="https://qasiatrial.asia.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cU4dChD447wDj7L">here</a>. For more information on the subject, click <a href="http://forensictranscription.com.au">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/14072/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Fraser does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Today, we take it for granted that police interviews with suspects will be electronically recorded and independently transcribed. That hasn’t always been the case. Police were once allowed to testify…Helen Fraser, Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Law (forensic science), UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/20662011-08-18T19:57:26Z2011-08-18T19:57:26ZThe CSI effect: are jurors starstruck by forensic evidence?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/3001/original/aapone-20100319000224290646-perth_stabbing_crime_scene-original.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Australia, forensic evidence is coming under increasing scrutiny.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrea Hayward/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>FORENSICS AUSTRALIA – Jurors without technical training are frequently required to consider complex forensic evidence. </p>
<p>It’s not just a matter of understanding the forensic evidence: in the case of “opposing” experts called by defence and prosecution, the juror is expected to discriminate between, and critically evaluate, different interpretations of a particular set of data. </p>
<p>Crucially, a juror must then integrate that consideration into his or her assessment of the rest of the evidence at trial, giving the forensic evidence appropriate weight.</p>
<p>There is a strong school of thought suggesting jurors are incapable of understanding such evidence or of giving it appropriate weight in relation to other non-forensic evidence and that, no matter what resources are devoted to assisting jurors with this task, they will be unable to accomplish it with any degree of fairness. </p>
<h2>CSI effect</h2>
<p>The so-called <a href="http://www.technicianonline.com/features/csi-unrealistic-1.405426?pagereq=1">“CSI Effect”</a> relates to fears often expressed, usually without anything other than anecdotal evidence, that jurors will: </p>
<ul>
<li>demand scientific testimony</li>
<li>acquit (wrongly) if it’s not made available</li>
<li>be unduly influenced by such testimony </li>
<li>uncritically give it more weight than other evidence</li>
<li>accept it unquestioningly</li>
<li>be unable to understand it</li>
<li>be influenced by the most articulate expert and </li>
<li>be unable to critically evaluate it. </li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.psychology.org.au/publications/inpsych/2010/august/goodman/?ID=3246,3246,3246,3246,3246,3246">Others</a> believe juries’ abilities may be underestimated. </p>
<p>In Australia, forensic evidence is coming under increasing scrutiny, largely due to the growing importance of forensic evidence in the detection and prosecution of crime, including the <a href="http://www.crimtrac.gov.au/systems_projects/KeyDatesintheHistoryofDNAProfiling.html">advent of DNA testimony</a>. </p>
<p>As a science-trained barrister, I have seen important forensic testimony used in trials without any apparent understanding of the scientific issues by judge, lawyers and therefore, one might think, juries. The forensic expert has left the courtroom, shaking his or her head, and asking me: “What was that all about?”</p>
<p>In 2006 I examined the manner in which jurors deal with forensic evidence: how they perceive it, process it, tackle understanding it individually and collectively, apply it to the facts of the case, integrate it with and weigh it in relation to other evidence. </p>
<p>I was permitted access to real jurors after real trials – something which is normally against the law. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=D0D745F4-1E4F-17FA-D2E0-CB5017D3CD10&siteName=lca">outcome of the study</a> was that jurors are more sophisticated than they are often given credit for, and do consider such issues as bias, congruence of the forensic evidence with other evidence in the trial, and the expert’s basis for his or her opinion, including an evaluation of their reasoning process.</p>
<p>There are encouraging, though sometimes mixed, messages about the CSI effect. One juror in my study commented on the absence of DNA evidence in a murder trial:</p>
<p>“We were so upset that … they never did the nail scrapings. It leaves us jurors thinking ‘why not?’ … on TV they say that they can get DNA … There was all these questions that we asked. </p>
<p>”… it was such a hard case anyhow, but we thought: ‘oh well, if they’ve got DNA we’ll be fine. It will just give us the answers’ … if he had DNA under his fingernails because of the fighting … belonging to someone else, then we’re going to know …“ </p>
<p>This same juror thought an explanation about how DNA is gathered, and the difficulties of doing this, would have helped considerably. </p>
<p>"All they said to us was: ‘it’s not like it is on TV’ but that isn’t really explaining … On TV they show us that you can get DNA out of that bit of blood. Can you? Can’t you? Do you need this, do you need that?” </p>
<p>Jurors were alive to the possibility of unconscious or conscious bias. And although some were unhappy the expert could not give a definitive solution to the case, others were aware this was not possible and appreciated the expert’s limitations.</p>
<p>Here’s how one juror summed up the role of the expert:</p>
<p>“To provide a scientific or technical or a knowledgeable … explanation of a circumstance that occurred and why it occurred and how it occurred and probabilities about it, but not to actually pinpoint something. It’s not their job to say that’s what did it without a reasonable doubt.”</p>
<p>A strong theme I noticed was that jurors are very careful not to just accept forensic evidence at face value but to look to see what other aspects of the evidence supported or contradicted the forensic evidence and assess all evidence on that basis.</p>
<p>Indeed, my interviews with Western Australian jurors strongly supported the proposition that all evidence, forensic or otherwise, is considered and given appropriate weight. </p>
<p>There seems to be a “<a href="http://works.bepress.com/donald_shelton/5/">tech effect</a>” rather than a CSI effect, with jurors willing to tackle and come to grips with forensic evidence, without being bedazzled by it. </p>
<p>In other words, jurors are not “put off” by scientific evidence, but are ready to grapple with it and make a real effort to understand.</p>
<p>It’s ironic that judges and lawyers (in my experience) often doubt the ability of jurors to cope with forensic evidence, and yet they have formed this view without any evidence themselves, because of the prohibition on speaking to real jurors after trials about their deliberations. </p>
<p>Maybe jurors are smarter than the average bear, maybe they are not: the jury’s still out …</p>
<p><strong><em>This is part five of The Conversation’s Forensics Australia series.</em></strong></p>
<p><em><strong>Read part one <a href="http://theconversation.com/explainer-forensic-science-2817">here</a>.</strong></em>
<strong><em>Read part two <a href="http://theconversation.com/within-you-without-you-the-world-of-microbial-forensics-2284">here</a>.</em></strong>
<em><strong>Read part three <a href="http://theconversation.com/forensic-entomology-the-time-of-death-is-everything-2037">here</a>.</strong></em>
<em><strong>Read part four <a href="http://theconversation.com/forensic-anthropology-the-need-for-australian-standards-2142">here</a>.</strong></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/2066/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Judith Fordham has received funding from The Law Society of WA Public Purposes Trust, the Department of the Attorney General (WA), the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (WA), WA Police, Legal Aid WA.</span></em></p>FORENSICS AUSTRALIA – Jurors without technical training are frequently required to consider complex forensic evidence. It’s not just a matter of understanding the forensic evidence: in the case of “opposing…Judith Fordham, Associate Professor, Jury Research Group Centre for Forensic Science , The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/21422011-08-17T20:31:28Z2011-08-17T20:31:28ZForensic anthropology – the need for Australian standards<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2985/original/File_Crane3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Population-specific skeletons are of great value to forensic scientists.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Didier Descouens</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Given terrorism, natural disasters and other mass-fatality incidents seem to dominate news coverage, its never been more important to have an accurate and efficient means of identifying human remains.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the people that do this job in Australia are being held back by a lack of sufficient, population-specific standards. This is a big issue, with real consequences.</p>
<p>My job (known as forensic anthropology) involves the application of standard scientific techniques to analyse human skeletal remains. </p>
<p>We do this to provide biological information that may assist in establishing personal identity which, among other things, helps provide closure to families.</p>
<p>The biological profile we create based on skeletal remains is known as an <a href="http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI3260972/">osteobiography</a>, and it can be used to provide an estimation of sex, age, stature and ancestry in an unknown individual. </p>
<p>Additional responsibilities of the forensic anthropologist may include estimation of postmortem time and contributing to the pathologist’s determination of a possible cause (and manner) of death. This is done through the interpretation of <a href="http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/comic/activity/pdf/Perimortem.pdf">peri-mortem skeletal pathology</a>. </p>
<p>Generally, <a href="http://www.forensicmed.co.uk/pathology/post-mortem-interval/">post-mortem interval (PMI)</a> is established <a href="http://theconversation.com/forensic-entomology-when-timing-the-time-of-death-is-everything-2037">entomologically</a> when there is still soft tissue and insect activity. </p>
<p>To estimate PMI based on bone condition (e.g. how much decomposition has occurred) the forensic anthropologist can look to the amount of weathering that has occurred.</p>
<p>But this is highly error-prone and influenced by many intrinsic and extrinsic factors: local environment (e.g. temperature and rainfall), bone density, whether the remains have been scavenged, and the cause of death, to name but a few.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2827/original/cranial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2827/original/cranial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2827/original/cranial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2827/original/cranial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2827/original/cranial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2827/original/cranial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2827/original/cranial.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=583&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Geographic variation in cranial shape.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Franklin et al. 2010</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The living</h2>
<p>The role of the forensic anthropologist is continually evolving and now frequently involves identifying the living – ascertaining whether a person has reached a relevant age of criminal responsibility is one such example.</p>
<p>This is directly related to recent stories in the media about potentially-underage <a href="http://theconversation.com/bone-of-contention-can-wrist-x-rays-really-reveal-the-age-of-people-smugglers-2049">illegal migrants</a> in Australian detention centres.</p>
<p>When people try to enter the country without proof-of-age documents, there needs to be a robust system in place to assess their age based on their relative skeletal maturity. </p>
<p>This should be done by examining the degree of dental development using statistical data from the individual’s own population (Indonesian in the recent cases). </p>
<p>Other existing <a href="http://www.theabfa.org/">standards</a> use the skeletal development of the hand and wrist (based on American Caucasians from the 1930-40s) to estimate age. Unfortunately this method is very error-prone and unreliable in the absence of population-specific data.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2824/original/graph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2824/original/graph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2824/original/graph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2824/original/graph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2824/original/graph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2824/original/graph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2824/original/graph.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Changes in the mandible show variation in the shape with age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Franklin et al. 2008</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Standards</h2>
<p>Standards – the data sets we employ – are vitally important to the forensic anthropologist. They are part of the toolkit we use to profile an unknown individual based on <a href="http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/LOCAL-ONLY/FHC/FHCL1495-6.html">morphological variation</a> in their skeletons.</p>
<p>From these we can estimate biological attributes in the skeleton – such as age, sex, stature and ancestry. </p>
<p>For example, a certain dental pattern is reflective of an eight-year-old with a possible range of two years either side.</p>
<p>Taking certain cranial measurements can provide an expected correct classification accuracy of 85% for estimating sex. </p>
<p>As already outlined, the forensic anthropological discipline in Western Australia (and Australia generally) is constrained by a relative paucity of these population-specific standards.</p>
<p>Collections of documented (known age, sex, stature and ancestry) skeletons – which are historically the main source of population-specific data – are largely unavailable. </p>
<p>This means we generally have little recourse but to apply established skeletal standards from populations that are not representative of modern Australians, but of North Americans and Europeans among others.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2825/original/skull.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2825/original/skull.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2825/original/skull.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2825/original/skull.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2825/original/skull.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2825/original/skull.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2825/original/skull.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Measurements taken from CT scans (anterior views – blue dots are three-dimensional landmarks) are being used to formulate Australian-specific identification standards.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What we’re doing</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.forensicscience.uwa.edu.au/research/anthropology">Forensic Anthropology Research Group at the Centre for Forensic Science</a> (CFS) is currently developing novel forensic approaches for the analysis of human skeletal remains in both routine casework and disaster victim identification scenarios.</p>
<p>This casework might involve identifying skeletal remains found in a clandestine grave, scattered in a pine plantation, or any other way such remains might turn up.</p>
<p>Disaster victim identification might involve mass death scenarios such as car or plane crashes, natural disasters or acts of terrorism.</p>
<p>Our goal is to fortify the capabilities of forensic scientists in Australia through the development and implementation of a Human Identification Package (HIP) – a software tool designed to provide statistically quantified estimations of standard biological features, commonly used in the creation of an osteobiography.</p>
<p>To formulate the Australian standards we are currently using anonymised medical scans (see image above) and measurements from living individuals. </p>
<p>These offer a contemporary and reliable source of population-specific data from which skeletal standards for the estimation of age, sex and stature can be developed. </p>
<p>In a global era of crime, terrorism, natural disasters and other mass fatality incidents, the need for contemporary Australian standards, and novel approaches to identify unknown remains, are greatly overdue.</p>
<p><strong><em>This is part four of The Conversation’s Forensics Australia series.</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>Read part one <a href="http://theconversation.com/explainer-forensic-science-2817">here</a>.</em></strong>
<strong><em>Read part two <a href="http://theconversation.com/within-you-without-you-the-world-of-microbial-forensics-2284">here</a>.</em></strong>
<strong><em>Read part three <a href="http://theconversation.com/forensic-entomology-when-timing-the-time-of-death-is-everything-2037">here</a>.</em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/2142/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Franklin receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Discovery Grant DP1092538).</span></em></p>Given terrorism, natural disasters and other mass-fatality incidents seem to dominate news coverage, its never been more important to have an accurate and efficient means of identifying human remains…Daniel Franklin, Director of Studies - Centre for Forensic Science, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/20372011-08-16T20:41:37Z2011-08-16T20:41:37ZForensic entomology: the time of death is everything<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2713/original/3749947913_143d5508c6_b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=69%2C167%2C921%2C553&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Flesh-flies frequently give birth to maggots on corpses of human and other animals.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">sankax</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>FORENSICS AUSTRALIA – Insects are everywhere. Their ubiquitous nature, and the fact they represent the largest biomass of animals on the earth, means there are hardly any terrestrial niches – except when an animal is buried, immersed in water or frozen – that have not been exploited by this group. </p>
<p>The main protagonist in insect attacks on cadavers is flies – two-winged insects and beetles. Most people experience flies – generally house flies and bush flies – while they are alive and consider them pests. </p>
<p>The flies that people see less of are blowflies, which tend to maintain a distance from animals until such animals are dead, comatose, unconscious or, in the case of some humans, heavily intoxicated. </p>
<p>There are some exceptions such as the <a href="http://www.flyboss.org.au/files/pages/susceptibility/blowfly-identification/B4_20_Blowfly_identification_NSW_DII_130410.pdf">sheep blowfly</a> and other <a href="http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/Skin_diseases/Parasitic/Myiasis/Miyasis_fly.htm">myiasis</a> flies that will strike a live animal.</p>
<p>Blowflies, depending on the species, either lay eggs or live larvae onto a corpse. This generally happens within an hour of the animal becoming immobile. </p>
<p>Blowflies are attracted to orifices, wounds and other moist locations such as between the fingers or toes, the armpits or any observable body crease. </p>
<p>When attending a crime scene it’s from these moist locations that insect material is sampled. </p>
<p>The insect material is then identified, sometimes based on the size of the immatures (maggots). The size of these immatures is a reflection of estimated age – the most important parameter by which minimum time of death can be estimated.</p>
<p>The person who does this work is a forensic entomologist. The term “forensic entomology” is generally used to describe the study of insects and other <a href="http://www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_id=15">arthropods</a> associated with certain suspected criminal events. </p>
<p>These typically include homicides, suspicious deaths, sudden deaths and suicides. </p>
<p>I have been involved with every aspect of forensic entomology for the past 23 years and am the only accredited forensic entomologist in Australia. </p>
<p>For ten years, I have also been part of the teaching faculty of the <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/knoxville/stories/12th-annual-human-remains-recovery-school">FBI’s Investigation Human Remains Recovery School</a>, teaching <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/lab/ert">Evidence Response Teams</a> for the last 10 years in the USA. </p>
<p>For me this has meant attending more than 200 homicides in Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory, as well as reviewing cases in North America and Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>Of course, these numbers are low as Australia boasts one of the lowest homicide rates in the world (approximately one in every 100,000 people every year) and only 15-20% of these have any associated insect material present. </p>
<p>Estimating the minimum time of death sits within the broader discipline of medico-legal entomology which includes:</p>
<ul>
<li>determining the location of where a human death occurred</li>
<li>cases involving toxins, drugs and gunshot residues</li>
<li>the movement of vehicles and transport of remains</li>
<li>injuries after death</li>
<li>insect bites or infestations</li>
<li>neglect of the elderly</li>
<li>child abuse</li>
<li>food contamination by insects</li>
<li>veterinary and wildlife forensics. </li>
</ul>
<h2>Modern twists</h2>
<p>One traditional technique forensic entomologists have turned into a modern day treatment is maggot therapy. When antibiotics fail, many limbs have been saved by administering sterile maggots into gangrenous or necrotic wounds.</p>
<p>There are two other major areas where forensic entomology plays a role. </p>
<p>The first is urban entomology, which involves civil actions relating to insects and human-built structures, as may occur with termites and buildings. </p>
<p>This is becoming even more commonplace with the reduction into the environment of dangerous insecticides and no real protective barriers to insect attack. </p>
<p>The second is stored product entomology, which involves civil actions related to insect infestations of commodities such as food. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2715/original/File_Calliphora_vomitoria_Portrait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2715/original/File_Calliphora_vomitoria_Portrait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2715/original/File_Calliphora_vomitoria_Portrait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2715/original/File_Calliphora_vomitoria_Portrait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2715/original/File_Calliphora_vomitoria_Portrait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2715/original/File_Calliphora_vomitoria_Portrait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2715/original/File_Calliphora_vomitoria_Portrait.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The blue bottle fly lays its eggs in decaying matter.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Have you ever unwrapped a muesli bar, opened a bag of fruit and nuts or checked a bag of flour on the shelf and found insects or webbing inside? </p>
<p>This is insect damage, which you can solve yourself by freezing such products for up to ten days following purchase to kill any insect material. </p>
<h2>Time flies</h2>
<p>The bread-and-butter reasons for forensic entomology involve ageing insects to determine a post-mortem interval (PMI). </p>
<p>With respect to time taken for carrion-eating insects to arrive on a body, there are many environmental and species-specific factors that will determine whether insects are common in the area of an unattended corpse. </p>
<p>In contrast, other types of insects will not be attracted by a corpse until it is in one of the later stages of decay. </p>
<p>So, the presence of an insect known to be attracted only by a dry, decayed corpse indicates that the corpse has been dead for some time and has already passed through fresh, bloat and wet decay stages. </p>
<p>And of course this is all dependent on weather factors, the most important being temperature and rainfall. </p>
<p>Insects (other than blowflies) that feed on decaying flesh include beetles, wasps and moths, and, by the time the last species arrives, the earliest arrivals are generally no longer present. </p>
<p>This is but a snapshot of what a forensic entomologist is expected to have expertise in, because as a result of any investigation involving insects, a “FE” will probably end up in a court of law to provide an opinion.</p>
<p>In essence, contemporary forensic entomology is a crucial tool in providing a chronological “gold standard” in the evaluation of postmortem intervals when insects are associated with a corpse.</p>
<p><strong><em>This is part three of The Conversation’s Forensics Australia series. Read <a href="http://theconversation.com/explainer-forensic-science-2817">part one</a> and <a href="http://theconversation.com/within-you-without-you-the-world-of-microbial-forensics-2284">part two</a>.</em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/2037/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Dadour receives funding from ARC and is affiliated with UWA</span></em></p>FORENSICS AUSTRALIA – Insects are everywhere. Their ubiquitous nature, and the fact they represent the largest biomass of animals on the earth, means there are hardly any terrestrial niches – except when…Ian Dadour, Director - Centre for Forensic Science, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/22842011-08-16T06:05:11Z2011-08-16T06:05:11ZWithin you without you: the world of microbial forensics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2719/original/Neutrophils_phagocytizing_bacteria.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What's in you and on you says a lot about you … and a lot about where you've been.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>FORENSICS AUSTRALIA – Thanks to television crime shows and crime novels many people are now familiar with the use of DNA as forensic evidence in criminal cases. </p>
<p>In these scenarios, DNA profiles are based on DNA obtained from the perpetrators or victims of crimes. </p>
<p>But what if the crime involves a perpetrator releasing <a href="http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/Anthrax.html"><em>Bacillus anthracis</em></a> (causative agent of Anthrax), <a href="http://plague.emedtv.com/yersinia-pestis/yersinia-pestis.html"><em>Yersinia pestis</em></a> (causative agent of plague) or <a href="http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/216288-overview">Ebola virus</a> on to a population to create mayhem and potentially cause thousands of deaths? How do we determine the source of the micro-organism? </p>
<p>All living things, including humans, have genetic material (DNA or RNA – a closely related chemical molecule to DNA) as their biological blueprint. </p>
<p>Forensic scientists can identify genetic variations within this genetic material to provide a genetic fingerprint or DNA profile of the microbe – as is done for humans – to determine the organism’s origin.</p>
<p>The use of microbes as bioweapons dates back centuries from the catapulting of plague-infected decaying bodies into enemy territory to the distribution of smallpox-infected blankets by armed forces to initiate outbreaks among previously unexposed populations. </p>
<p>The use of bioweapons is not restricted to armies but has also been linked to cults and individuals such as the <a href="http://www.ndu.edu/centercounter/ANTHRAX%20CHRONOLOGY.pdf">anthrax letter attack</a> in 2001 in the US, which resulted in several deaths and provoked massive panic among the population. </p>
<p>In this case, <em>Bacillus anthracis</em> spores were placed in letters sent to various senators and media outlets in the US soon after the September 11 terrorist attacks. </p>
<p>Scientists obtained the genetic material from the anthrax spores in the letters and compared it against a number of known anthrax strains around the world. </p>
<p>The outcome from this analysis was that the anthrax strain (<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1473-anthrax-bacteria-likely-to-be-us-military-strain.html">Ames</a>) in the letters was most similar to a strain of the bacteria held in a laboratory in the US <a href="http://www.usamriid.army.mil/index.cfm">Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases</a> in Maryland. </p>
<p>But the laboratory in this institute had sent samples of this strain to laboratories around the world prior to the anthrax attack. </p>
<p>The initial investigation, therefore, was unable to pin-point the exact source of the anthrax in the letters. </p>
<p>Fortunately, recent advances in technology allowed the identification of minority anthrax isolates found in the letters that only matched isolates found in the US Army laboratory. </p>
<p>The main suspect in this case, a scientist in the institute, <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121757737139604131.html">committed suicide</a> before evidence could be presented in court and the case was never fully resolved. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2728/original/microbes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2728/original/microbes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2728/original/microbes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2728/original/microbes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2728/original/microbes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2728/original/microbes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/2728/original/microbes.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The study of microbes has come a long way.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Personal biocrime</h2>
<p>Other cases can be more personal, with some individuals intentionally transmitting a deadly virus such as HIV to another person (personal biocrime). </p>
<p>How can we detect the transmission of a virus between two people? </p>
<p>Again, HIV, in common with other microbes, has genetic material that can be profiled. But to identify specific transmission events of micro-organisms between individuals, the organism must be variable enough that one can differentiate between a recent transmission and a more distal event. </p>
<p>For HIV this is possible as the virus has a high mutation rate (errors made during replication of their genetic material for the next generation) – about a million times greater than humans – and has a short replication time. </p>
<p>This means HIV is an incredibly adaptable virus and in a single day an infected person can produce millions of new viruses that can be slightly different to each other. </p>
<p>This is one reason why a vaccine for HIV has so far been such an elusive goal and a DNA profile of HIV within an infected individual over time will not be the same. </p>
<p>Compare this to humans. Irrespective of when you get a DNA profile (at birth, during life or death) your DNA profile will always be the same. </p>
<p>But these features of HIV allow the scientist to identify recent donor/recipient pairs using analysis tools akin to family studies. </p>
<p>Viral strains that are genetically more similar to each other represent a more recent history (transmission) than viral strains that are more genetically distant. </p>
<p>In some instances, scientists can use a <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news146418967.html">molecular clock</a> to date a transmission event. </p>
<h2>Our bacteria</h2>
<p>Aside from bioweapons and personal biocrime, recent interest in microbial forensics has centred on the bacteria we carry on and in our own bodies. </p>
<p>There are millions of different bacterial strains living in many of our body’s compartments and latest technological advances have meant we can now sample our own <a href="http://www.roarproject.org/ROAR/html/commensal.htm">commensal bacterial</a> universe to provide a unique profile that could be used in conjunction with a DNA profile to <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124709981">identify</a> an individual. </p>
<p>With the increased awareness of potential bioterrorism attacks, scientists are constantly striving to develop tests that allow the rapid identification of microbes and their source. </p>
<p>Just as DNA profiling of ourselves has become part of the routine nature of criminal cases, sampling the genetic material of microbes, either within our environment or on ourselves, will become commonplace.</p>
<p><strong><em>This is part two of The Conversation’s Forensics Australia series. Read part one <a href="http://theconversation.com/explainer-forensic-science-2817">here</a>.</em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/2284/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Silvana Gaudieri receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.</span></em></p>FORENSICS AUSTRALIA – Thanks to television crime shows and crime novels many people are now familiar with the use of DNA as forensic evidence in criminal cases. In these scenarios, DNA profiles are based…Silvana Gaudieri, Associate professor Forensic DNA and Microbiology Group, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/28172011-08-15T02:06:22Z2011-08-15T02:06:22ZExplainer: Forensic science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/2856/original/1019279760_3097611b1f_o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A serious criminal investigation without forensic science seems unthinkable.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">turkguy0319</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>FORENSICS AUSTRALIA – There has always been a role for forensic science in criminal investigations, but these days, with criminals committing clever, well thought-out crimes more often, it’s now an <em>essential tool</em> for criminal investigations.</p>
<p>Without question, the field of forensic science has come a very long way since its recorded beginnings around 700AD, when the Chinese used fingerprints to establish the identity of documents and clay sculptures, thereby identifying their authenticity. </p>
<p>Since that time, some <a href="http://www.forensicdna.com/Timeline020702.pdf">notable discoveries</a> have occurred – such as the use of chemistry to analyse myriad inks, drugs and minerals and the more recent discovery of DNA which has become a mainstay tool for identifying perpetrators and excluding the innocent. </p>
<p>There are three core disciplines that constitute forensic science – medicine, chemistry and anthropology – followed by an extensive array of sub-disciplines. </p>
<p>These include: </p>
<ul>
<li>Chemistry (chromatography, spectroscopic analysis, pH and other chemical tests) </li>
<li>Biology (entomology, fingerprinting, behaviour, hairs, DNA testing etc.)</li>
<li>Physical science (blood spatter analysis, ballistics, structural analysis, car movements in car accidents).<br></li>
</ul>
<p>When a crime is committed and the forensic team is called in, there are many experts who cover their specialised fields. Although all these people could be considered forensic scientists, they have different skills and focuses. </p>
<p>The minimum requirements for a criminal investigation are:</p>
<p>1) Field officers: these are technicians who visit the crime scene and collect physical evidence that may be related to the crime. </p>
<p>They also document and record the scene by taking photographs and videos. </p>
<p>2) Lab officers: these are technicians who analyse and complete tests on the evidence collected by field officers.</p>
<p>Sometimes the above two roles are further broken down into expert areas, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Crime scene investigator: people who visit the scene of the crime to find,
collect, protect and transport all the evidence they have collected back to the crime lab.</p></li>
<li><p>Latent print examiner: specialists in fingerprints, palm prints and footprints.</p></li>
<li><p>Firearms examiner: experts in determining what sort of firearm was used by comparing bullet and shell casings, and searching for and identifying gunshot residue.</p></li>
<li><p>Tool mark examiner: similar to the fingerprint examiner, but rather than looking for human fingerprints they look for distinctive marks that may have been left by tools the criminal(s) used.</p></li>
<li><p>Document examiner: specialists who determine authenticity and authorship of documents left at the scene. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>They also look for any alterations that may have occurred to original documents and may be asked to determine whether a particular copier or typewriter has been used in the creation of a document.</p>
<ul>
<li>Trace evidence examiner: individuals who analyse and compare any traces the criminal may have left behind. </li>
</ul>
<p>These people are responsible for analysing and comparing hair, fibres, glass, soil and paints to work out type and origin. </p>
<p>While the above roles relate to all crimes, there are some additional experts who are called upon if the crime involves finding a body. The roles specifically relating to examining remains or murders are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Forensic pathologist: the person responsible for examining the body, undertaking autopsies to determine cause of death and collecting any evidence that can be found on or in the victim.</li>
</ul>
<p>They might also examine living victims to determine the cause and age of injuries received during the crime. </p>
<p>They use autopsy reports, police reports, medical records, suspect or witness interviews and the results of crime lab evidence analyses in the pursuit of answers.</p>
<ul>
<li>Forensic anthropologist: the person called in for cases in which remains are skeletal or difficult to identify. </li>
</ul>
<p>These experts use skeletal remains to work out the age, sex and race of the deceased. </p>
<p>They can also identify any injuries or illnesses the victim may have suffered, and can sometimes even establish the time of death. </p>
<p>Forensic anthropologists can also perform toxicological, chemical and DNA tests on remains to discover more about the victim. </p>
<p>They can also find out a lot by visiting the location where the remains were found.</p>
<ul>
<li>Forensic odontologist: these experts are basically forensic dentists, who help to identify bodies by matching dental patterns with dental records collected from
dentists. </li>
</ul>
<p>They are also called in for cases in which bite marks or teeth are found.</p>
<ul>
<li>Forensic entomologist: these experts use their knowledge of insect life cycles to determine time of death. </li>
</ul>
<p>It’s common for bodies that have been found sometime after death to be invaded by insects. </p>
<p>Forensic entomologists can also use their knowledge of where different insects live to work out if a body has been moved or not.</p>
<h2>Key strengths</h2>
<p>Observational skills are important for all forensic scientists, of course, as is the ability to be methodical and accurate at all times.</p>
<p>Scepticism is another important quality, particularly when investigating crimes. There are a couple of key things to remember:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Everyone is a suspect until something concrete proves otherwise, and witness accounts aren’t always accurate. </p></li>
<li><p>When referring to memories (such as during a witness account) most people have trouble getting all details correct and perceptions can be influenced by their personal lives and values. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>A witness may state they saw a woman leaving the crime scene. But what if it was a man with long brown hair? </p>
<p>Variations on this easily-made mistake are endless and could lead to all sorts of complications. </p>
<p>It’s the forensic scientist’s job to make sure it doesn’t – to get the job done, and done correctly.</p>
<p><em><strong>This is part one of The Conversation’s Forensics Australia series. Meet the people behind the science in parts <a href="http://theconversation.com/within-you-without-you-the-world-of-microbial-forensics-2284">two</a> to five.</strong></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/2817/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Dadour receives funding from UWA.</span></em></p>FORENSICS AUSTRALIA – There has always been a role for forensic science in criminal investigations, but these days, with criminals committing clever, well thought-out crimes more often, it’s now an essential…Ian Dadour, Director - Centre for Forensic Science, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.