Identification of individuals from DNA is by now a standard technique, but crime-scene samples can be challenging to analyse as they can contain source material from an unknown number of individuals and are often degraded by the environment. This makes inference as to whether someone is a contributor significant challenge and faulty interpretation has led to a number of high profile miscarriages of justice. In an effort to help the field on, a new database at Rutgers University-Camden has been published that can help to bring more reliability to the interpretation of complex DNA evidence. This innovative new resource was developed by a research team led by Rutgers University-Camden professors Catherine Grgicak and Desmond Lun, and Ken Duffy of Maynooth University Hamilton Institute.
A press release with more information can be found here, while the database and the published paper that describes it can be found here.