Blog

In October, we sat down with Natalie Collins, Belinda Reyes, and Samantha Guigliemi, analysts in our Forensic Laboratory in Austin, TX. These three share a close friendship that has flourished in their time a Signature Science. We wanted to get them together to chat, pick their brains, and learn about... MORE

Roundtable discussions offered small groups the opportunity to discuss their challenges in the space of FIGG and offer solutions In recent years, Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG) has become a primary focus of large forensic conferences as laboratories explore the adoption of the associated technologies and workflows, law enforcement officials eagerly... MORE

Variability in the amount of DNA deposited by individuals when touching a surface poses a significant hurdle to the evaluation of forensic analysis methods for touch samples. No two human latent fingerprint samples are the same due to the “shedder” status of different individuals as well as other factors including... MORE

For years, investigators have relied on spent shell casings to identify the type of gun used in a crime, but they have believed that those same casings were unlikely to yield DNA that could be used to identify the shooter. It’s time for some new thinking about spent shell casings... MORE

Signature Science, a private Forensic DNA Laboratory based in Austin, Texas, validated a suite of robotics and associated methods for sexual assault kit processing in 2018 with the goal of increasing throughput while also delivering a more quantitatively robust product to our clients. Our internal assessment led to the selection... MORE

The interpretation of DNA mixtures continues to be a pervasive topic in the field of forensic DNA analysis. With the long awaited publication of the NIST MIX05 MIX13 study, and an increasing number of DNA laboratories turning to probabilistic genotyping, it’s worth stopping for a moment to consider just how the... MORE