With the advance of molecular biology, DNA analysis technology has been widely applied in forensic science. Non-human DNA analysis can be used in some special cases and has unique forensic value to provide investigation clues and trial basis. Animal DNA typing plays a more prominent role in the detection of all kinds of non-human DNA related cases and is the main content of forensic non-human DNA analysis. This paper reviews the development history, present situation, advantages and disadvantages of animal DNA typing according to its technology, characteristic, challenges facing forensic science application scenarios, and also its future development.
Animals ; DNA Fingerprinting ; Forensic Medicine ; DNA/analysis* ; Forensic Sciences ; Molecular Biology ; Forensic Genetics

Given the complexity of biological samples and the trace nature of target materials in forensic trace analysis, a simple and effective method is needed to obtain sufficient target materials from complex substrates. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have shown a wide range of application value in many research fields, such as biomedicine, drug delivery and separation, due to their unique superparamagnetic properties, stable physical and chemical properties, biocompatibility, small size, high specific surface area and other characteristics. To apply MNPs in the pretreatment of forensic materials, maximize the extraction rate of the target materials, and minimize interference factors to meet the requirements of trace analysis of the target materials, this paper reviews the application of MNPs in the fields of forensic toxicological analysis, environmental forensic science, trace evidence analysis and criminal investigation in recent years, and provides research ideas for the application of MNPs in forensic trace analysis.
Magnetite Nanoparticles/chemistry* ; Forensic Medicine ; Forensic Sciences ; Forensic Toxicology

Kinship testing is widely needed in forensic science practice. This paper reviews the definitions of common concepts, and summarizes the basic principles, advantages and disadvantages, and application scope of kinship analysis methods, including identity by state (IBS) method, likelihood ratio (LR) method, method of moment (MoM), and identity by descent (IBD) segment method. This paper also discusses the research hotspots of challenging kinship testing, complex kinship testing, forensic genetic genealogy analysis, and non-human biological samples.
DNA Fingerprinting ; Forensic Genetics/methods* ; Forensic Sciences ; Pedigree ; Humans

Individual identification is one of the research hotspots in the practice of forensic science, and the judgment is usually built on the comparison of the unique biological characteristics of the individual, such as fingerprints, iris and DNA. With the dramatic increase in the number of cases related to video image investigations, there is an increasing need for the technology to identify individuals based on the macroscopic comparison of facial appearance biometrics. At present, with the introduction of computer three-dimensional (3D) modeling and 3D superimposition comparison technology, considerable progress has been made in individual identification methods based on macroscopic comparison of facial appearance biometrics. This paper reviews individual facial appearance biometric methods based on macroscopical comparison, comprehensively analyzes the advantages and limitations of different methods, and puts forward recommendations and prospects for subsequent research.
Biometric Identification ; Biometry/methods* ; Face/anatomy & histology* ; Forensic Sciences/methods* ; Humans

OBJECTIVES: To explore the development process of the postmortem interval (PMI) research in China from January 1990 to August 2020, research hotspots in different periods, authors and cooperation between institutions, and to provide a reference for the better development of PMI inference research through the visualization of the literature information of the PMI estimation research indexed in China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). METHODS: The information visualization analysis software CiteSpace 5.7.R1 was used to carry out big data analysis on hotspots, high-frequency keywords, authors, institutions and other information in the research literature on PMI inference from January 1990 to August 2020 indexed in CNKI. RESULTS: The peak time of publication of PMI was from 2006 to 2010 with 114 articles. In keyword co-occurrence network, the effective hot words were forensic entomology, DNA content analysis and some emerging words such as artificial intelligence and big data. In the cooperation network of institutions, the high-frequency institutions were mainly the scientific research institutions. The author cooperation network showed a trend of co-aggregation and multi-cooperation. CONCLUSIONS With the development of science and technology, the research on PMI estimation based on traditional methods is mature and novel strategies are emerging. Big data and artificial intelligence combined with forensic science provide new research directions on PMI estimation.
Artificial Intelligence ; Autopsy ; China ; Forensic Sciences ; Software

OBJECTIVES: To understand the legal application and case deposition of assessment opinions of sexual self-defense capability, and to explore the necessity of legal correspondence in the sexual defense capability assessment. METHODS: According to the self-made questionnaire, the cases of sexual self-defense capability assessment completed by the Academy of Forensic Science from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2018 were statistically analyzed through telephone interviews and referrals. RESULTS: Among the 69 cases, 3 cases (4.3%) had complete sexual self-defense capability, 30 cases (43.5%) had weakened sexual self-defense capability, 32 cases (46.2%) had no sexual self-defense capability, and 4 cases (5.8%) were not suitable for assessment. Among the 30 cases with weakened sexual self-defense ability, 15 cases were filed and investigated by public security authorities for rape and 15 cases were not. The inconsistent rate of disposition was 1∶1. Among the 15 rape cases filed and investigated by the public security authorities, 10 cases were arrested and prosecuted by the procuratorate and sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment by the court, while the other 5 cases were not arrested and prosecuted by the procuratorate, with an inconsistent rate of disposition being 2∶1. CONCLUSIONS The legal application of the assessment opinion on the weakening of sexual self-defense capability is inconsistent, and the judicial disposition is confusing. It is imperative to unify and correspond the classification of sexual self-defense capability with the legal requirements.
Rape ; Forensic Psychiatry ; Forensic Medicine ; Forensic Sciences

Exosomes are membranous tiny vesicles secreted by cells, which are widely found in the extracellular matrix and various body fluids and carry a variety of biologically functional molecules such as proteins, lipids, messenger RNA (mRNA) and microRNA (miRNA). Exosomes not only play important biological roles in the field of immunology and oncology, but also have potential application value in the field of forensic medicine. This article reviews the discovery, production and degeneration mechanism, biological functions, isolation and identification methods of exosomes, summarizes the research on exosomes and their significance in the field of forensic science, and discusses their applications in body fluid identification, individual identification, postmortem interval estimation to provide ideas for the application of exosomes in forensic work.
Exosomes/metabolism* ; Forensic Medicine ; MicroRNAs/metabolism* ; Forensic Sciences ; RNA, Messenger/metabolism*

Forensic Sciences/education*

In recent years, zebrafish model has been widely concerned and recognized by scholars at home and abroad. As an animal model, zebrafish is of great research value because it is easy to feed, easy to operate, observe and analyze, and the model results can be highly combined with human body test data. Zebrafish model has been widely used in many fields, including basic medical science, clinical medicine, agricultural production, environmental toxicology and forensic science. This review introduces the biological characteristics of zebrafish, summarizes the research progress of zebrafish model in toxicology, and discusses the application prospect of zebrafish model in forensic science.
Animals ; Forensic Sciences ; Forensic Toxicology ; Humans ; Zebrafish

Objective To analyze the forensic science-related literature included in the Web of Science database in the recent decade through bibliometric methods, to provide reference for relevant research. Methods Literatures were searched in 3 ways： Subject search, Journal search and Institution search. The annual distribution, national （regional） distribution, institution distribution, journal distribution and the research hotspots of the related literatures were analyzed through Thomson Data Analyzer （TDA）, Ucinet, VOSviewer, and so on. Results A total of 49 469 related literatures were included in the recent decade. The number of literatures continued to climb year by year. The top 15 countries （regions） accounted for 78.52% of the total number of published literatures, and China ranked 5th, but ranked 12th in terms of the proportion of high-cited papers; Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, etc. had high comprehensive influence. The number of countries （regions） that cooperated with China were 129, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. The Institute of Forensic Science of Saint Mary's University, University of Sydney and Netherlands Forensic Institute had high comprehensive influence, and the related literatures were published on 6 357 journals. According to high-frequency co-occurrence network and high-cited papers, brain injury, health policy, assessment scales and models and medical imaging were selected as research hotspots. Conclusion The total number of literatures in forensic science included in international SCI increased significantly, and the influence of China's achievements needs to be greatly enhanced; the research institutions were scattered, and China's research power needs to be continuously condensed; the research hotspots in international fields are extensive, and the international participation of China in top level research needs to be strengthened.
Bibliometrics ; China ; Forensic Medicine ; Forensic Sciences ; Humans