While the gold standard of polymerase chain reaction–capillary electrophoresis in forensic DNA typing is robust and reliable, the ability to determine the number and appropriation of component contributor alleles in DNA mixture profiles remains challenging. Therefore, we can either adapt to complex interpretation methods, or pursue new bench science approaches to DNA mixture deconvolution. The incorporation of new forensic markers coupled with the integration of new technologies and chemistries that allow the forensic analyst to quantify component contributor alleles in DNA mixture samples has the potential to revolutionize our approach to DNA mixture interpretation and resolve more crimes.

Mitochondrial DNA profiling is useful for samples with limited nuclear DNA such as hairs, bones and degraded samples. Massively parallel sequencing has increased the range of methods available with a resulting increase in discrimination power of the technique.

Forensic anthropologists evaluate pediatric skeletal trauma from a multidisciplinary perspective to analyze and interpret the timing of injuries and the causative mechanism. This level of analysis is invaluable for forensic pathologists to determine cause and manner of death.

Smartphone cameras are able to provide quality photos comparable as DSLRs for latent prints photography.