Crime scene detectives are to benefit from an award-winning new forensic toolkit that can determine the age of fingerprints and detect traces of steel on bone.
The development from Dundee University has been deemed so cutting edge that the students who worked on it were awarded a gold medal at the finals of an international competition in Boston.
Members of the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team designed the ground-breaking kit to also include a biosensitive spray that can reveal traces of bodily fluids.
The iGEM contest is a world-renowned challenge which asks students from top universities to tackle a real world problem by designing and building a new device or system from biological parts.
Despite advances in forensic science spawning numerous high profile TV shows and movies very few techniques with a sound scientific basis have been brought forward in the last 30 years.
It is hoped the toolkit which had the input of world-leading researchers working at the University’s Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification will now be picked up to improve efficiency when detecting and analysing evidence.
Niamh Nic Daeid, Professor of Forensic Science said: “This is a fantastic project and the great benefit for the forensic community, apart from tackling some important challenges, is that the project is starting out with a strong scientific foundation and building the applications from there, whereas in many contemporary forensic science methods the science is still lacking behind the applications.
“We need to develop a stronger scientific base across much of forensic science and this is an important contribution.”
The Dundee iGEM team has a strong record of success in the competition, having won a succession of prizes in recent years.
They will show off their work and discuss its possible impact at the latest Caf Science in the city on Monday.
The free event at Avery & Co, 34 South Tay Street starts at 7pm.