Forensics
New Thinking
Illicit drug tests
ESR tests on new illicit drugs reveals dangerous cocktails
CSI - ESR
ESR provides independent impartial forensic science expertise to support the New Zealand justice system, but is it like CSI? TVNZ's Close Up investigates ....
Alcohol number one date rape drug
A six-year study by ESR toxicologists found that alcohol is the number one drug associated with drug facilitated sexual assaults.
'Time out' key to forensic progress
Forensic scientists need to be freed up from solving crimes so they can research how their talents can best be used to fight crime, an ESR research leader says.
NZ prepares for faster action against global disease
Pandemic? Biosecurity? Bioterrorism? Potential threats all. Since 9/11 and SARS the world has taken big steps in proactive surveillance. But like all nations, perhaps the biggest challenge NZ faces is to bring the barrage of facts together, into a single – relevant - information source. Crown Research Institute ESR reckons it’s cracked the problem.
New Science
Making the invisible visible
A dramatic DNA advance, using new techniques partly developed by ESR, has the potential to solve crimes when there is no apparent evidence.
Could your DNA lead to disease?
How far can scientists dip into your genetic makeup to identify the risk of diabetes, heart disease, mental illness and other complex diseases? “Further than ever,” says ESR. The Crown Research Institute is using latest technology to work out exactly what DNA can forecast and explain – and the results are much more than microscopic.
Just how much is in your genes?
The battle against diabetes, heart disease and mental illness is taking a powerful new turn – into the microscopic. Crown Research Institute ESR is utilizing new technology to help identify the genetic markers involved in these and other complex diseases. Known as a ‘genome chip’, the technology makes it possible to scan someone’s entire genome in a single test.
DNA profiling - another NZ leap into the microscopic
Welcome to the future of crime solving. Crown Research Institute ESR has led the way in developing LCN (low copy number) DNA technology - ten times more sensitive than past DNA procedures. Forensic scientists will be able to lift a DNA profile from skin cells left on a keyboard.
NZ team develops enzyme to test DNA at crime scene
By using the enzyme forensicGEMTM, DNA could soon be extracted from crime
scene samples – and tested on the spot. Crown Research Institute ESR is collaborating with ZyGEM in the development of the enzyme. Simple and quick to use, it could become a powerful tool at high volume crime scenes such as burglaries and car thefts.
scene samples – and tested on the spot. Crown Research Institute ESR is collaborating with ZyGEM in the development of the enzyme. Simple and quick to use, it could become a powerful tool at high volume crime scenes such as burglaries and car thefts.
New Value
Caught on very fast camera - Blood pattern analysis
Taking digital photographs at a millionth of a second, Environmental Science and Research forensic scientist Michael Taylor has created unprecedented images of the way blood moves when struck.
Collaboration on forensic kits
ESR and Zygem Corp ltd are collaborating to accelerate development of forensicGEM™ kits for flexible, fast, accurate and low-cost DNA extraction.
DNA solves more burglaries
Preliminary research undertaken by ESR shows New Zealand Police are clearing close to 100% of burglary cases where DNA crime scene evidence is processed, but samples are only submitted from 2% of burglaries.
Scientists hot on felons' DNA trail
"Staggering" advances in DNA testing will make it impossible for a criminal to strike without being detected, a top ESR scientist says.
Detecting drugs through hair analysis
ESR's toxicology laboratories are increasingly undertaking hair analysis to determine methamphetamine use.
Forensic Science tracks killer
Smart forensic work led police quickly to a suspect and helped secure a guilty plea in the murder of school teacher Lois Dear.
Shoeprint Database Helps Crime Investigation
“A burglar's 'lucky shoes' may no longer be so lucky, thanks to a new National Shoeprint Database being piloted by ESR and the New Zealand Police. The project will provide a new tool to help link suspects with crime scenes.
Recruiting the tiniest crime fighters
Knowing whether DNA samples come from hair, mouth, vagina or other parts of the body can greatly help crime-scene investigations. Thanks to 25-year-old Claire French of Crown Research Institute ESR, now we can know – and helped her gain the title New Zealand’s Young Scientist of the Year, 2006.
