Integrated human identification solutions

When the world seeks the truth, it turns to you. But uncovering the truth presents complex challenges that require a partner you can depend on. That’s why listening to and answering to you is our highest priority, and informs everything we do—so you can focus on making a difference.

Thermo Fisher Scientific offers streamlined, end-to-end workflows for forensic DNA analysis to help you resolve difficult cases and provide investigative leads in a forensically responsible manner. We are committed to delivering unparalleled support and continued innovation to meet your needs today and tomorrow.

Touch DNA. Trace DNA

It goes by a variety of names but they all conjure the same concept—a sample quantity that is below the recommended threshold in any stage of a forensic DNA analysis workflow. How can forensic scientists get a DNA profile from such a minute sample? And why would they want to?

Back in 1997, van Oorschot and Jones reported getting a DNA “fingerprint” from an actual fingerprint. This expanded the number and types of evidence that could be interrogated as well as the types of crimes that could be investigated—theft, armed robbery and assault, to name a few.

Crime scene samples can originate from harsh environmental locations, which may result in various stages of degradation and contamination. Imagine a 20-year-old stamp that was stored away in a closet, or trace amounts of blood from an exploded IED, a partially eaten piece of pizza or evidence collected from an unflushed toilet? How would you begin to evaluate these challenging samples?