Forensics — The Science of Crime

screenable online: 3 episodes

Go behind the laboratory doors of forensic institutes and universities to discover how scientists and experts uncover vital information to help identify and convict the perpetrators of unsolved crimes.

This three-part series follows entomologists, genetic finger-printing experts, and molecular biologists who examine the bugs and DNA found at the crime scene, and gunshot wounds in the victims. Their constantly evolving methods have made them heroes in the fight against the “perfect crime.”

The detection rate for capital crimes in most Western countries is over 90 percent. Much of this high rate is due to the different areas of forensics. Experts from many forensic disciplines…

Crime scene investigation in the laboratory: molecular biologist Dr Harald Schneider extracts DNA from very small traces. Already 0.5 square millimetres are enough to uniquely identify genetic…

A weapon is found at the scene of a crime. Important question for the investigators: Was the victim shot with this weapon? Molecular ballistics can make a decisive contribution to clarification. …