The Forensics of the Future
If you’re anything like me and you’re a fan of science fiction, you probably imagine a future where the world is run by Artificial Intelligence and processes like cloning are a part of our everyday lives.
What would forensic science look like in a future like that? Could AI distinguish between two clones? Would we be able to predict the complete appearance of a suspect using their DNA? Could a tool allow experts to virtually reconstruct a crime scene using only the evidence they found?
In this article, we’ll be discussing a few ideas regarding what the future of forensics could look like. While it is impossible to predict how forensic technology will evolve over time, we can expect it to elevate forensic investigations to the next level.
The Forensics of the Future — Five Futuristic Forensic Applications
Movies like the Minority Report leave us wondering about the future of forensics. From gesture recognition to crime prediction software, no one can really predict how forensic science will continue to develop.
We can, however, consider some procedures and techniques used nowadays and try to imagine how they’d work in the future. Considering the type of problems each forensic science faces and trying to come up with potential solutions is also another great way to come up with futuristic applications.
Here are five futuristic forensic applications that we still might witness in our lifetime.
Complete DNA Phenotyping
Currently, a few countries resort to forensic DNA phenotyping techniques to help their investigation teams solve crimes faster. This technique involves studying the human genes that regulate and express human visual characteristics like eye, hair, and skin color.
These traits are the easiest to discriminate because the genes and mechanisms responsible for their regulation aren’t intricate. Investigators might use DNA phenotyping to narrow down their pool of suspects.
But what if DNA phenotyping could help them predict a suspect’s entire face? Or even other physical characteristics?
DNA phenotyping of the human face is challenging because there are a lot of genes and mechanisms working simultaneously to give us the appearance we have. Right now, it’s not easy to pinpoint exactly which genes are responsible for which part of the face.
However, in the future, as DNA analysis evolves, it might be possible to know how someone looks through a sample of their DNA. This would help expedite crime-solving by comparing the analysis results with potential suspects and even witness descriptions.
Artificial Intelligence for DNA Mixture Analysis
Sometimes, crime scenes involve places that are frequented by many different people and it’s not always easy to tell if a specific trace belongs to a perpetrator or an innocent bystander. Luckily, sophisticated AI techniques are being developed at the moment to help solve those dilemmas.
Michael Marciano and Jonathan Adelman, two researchers from the Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute are working on a machine-learning device that could help revolutionize DNA mixture analysis.
The example they give when explaining what their technology could do is one involving a bank robbery. For instance, the robber might use a pen that’s available to all customers to write a note for the teller. They’d be depositing their skin cells in the pen, alongside the cells of everyone else who might’ve used the pen.
Using current DNA mixture analysis it would be virtually impossible to create reliable DNA profiles for each person that used the pen, as the DNA mixture available would be highly complex.
However, this new AI-based approach could easily deconstruct the DNA mixture and estimate the potential DNA profiles of everyone who touched the pen. This would allow investigators to reduce the list of possible suspects until they obtained a complete DNA match.
Crime Scene Reconstruction and Prediction Simulator
Taking advantage of the development of technology and exponential computation power, the development of a crime scene reconstruction tool might be on the horizon. Such a tool could help investigators recreate entire crime scenes by entering data related to all evidence found at the spot.
Each piece of intelligence and evidence could be used to run endless simulations and provide likely scenarios that would illustrate what took place at each crime scene. It could also take into account where different pieces of evidence were located and they could relate to each other.
For instance, this tool could analyze fingerprints that were found at a crime scene and relate them to the orientation of blood spatter patterns that were found nearby. This would allow the tool to run different simulations and try recreating potential scenarios that might’ve occurred at the crime scene.
As the tool gathers information regarding different crime scenes, it might spark the need to create crime scene reconstruction databases. These might help assist new investigations, especially in cases that might be related.
Biosensors in Instant Trace Analysis
Forensic scientists have different methods of analyzing the types of fluids found at crime scenes. After determining what kind of bodily fluid is present, the traces can be used for DNA and toxicology analysis, for example. Of course, these procedures take time and end up consuming large amounts of the original trace.
So, what if we could create a portable system that would instantly analyze the fluid traces, at the crime scene? Such a device would help expedite crime scene investigations and guide investigators toward their next leads.
These types of tools could help determine different characteristics of the donor, at the spot. Things like age, drug and medication consumption, gender, and even if the person is a smoker or not, for example, constitute pieces of valuable information that could narrow the search for perpetrators.
Clone Discrimination Through Artificial Intelligence
Monozygotic or identical twins are characterized by being hard to tell apart. And even though, in theory, their DNA is identical, epigenetic and environmental pressures can lead to some differences in the twins’ DNA.
A few other systems in the present can already differentiate identical twins. Microsoft’s Windows Hello, used to authenticate users by facial recognition, can accurately tell identical twins apart. Other studies involving the distinction of monozygotic twins proved that voice biometrics can also be used to tell them apart.
But in the future, we’ll have clones to worry about. Will we be able to tell people that are exact copies of each other apart? That will depend on the genetic dynamics of clones. Whether they’re able to acquire mutations or DNA modifications through external pressures, change how they look, and lead different lifestyles than the original donor will have an impact on this field.
By then, Artificial Intelligence software might also be developed enough to answer some of these issues regarding clones.
If there’s still no way to tell clones apart in the future, not even through AI, and investigators find themselves in such a case, all they can do is hope that the cloning factory made some sort of traceable mistake.
The Forensics of the Future — Final Considerations
We can’t know what will lies ahead for the future of forensics. Still, there are a few things that we can expect from the development of this science, considering the technology and methods we have today.
Sci-fi movies are also a great source of inspiration. While complete crime scene reconstructions, instant trace analyzers, and clone discrimination might seem reserved for movies and games, technology can evolve enough to make them a reality.
References:
Dror, Itiel & Morgan, Ruth. (2020). A Futuristic Vision of Forensic Science. Journal of Forensic Sciences. 65. 8–10.
Martell, D.A., Sang, J.L., Mohammed, L.A. and McClary, C.R. (2019). The future of forensic document examination. In The Future of Forensic Science, D.A. Martell (Ed.).
Sero, D., Zaidi, A., Li, J. et al. (2019). Facial recognition from DNA using face-to-DNA classifiers. Nat Commun 10, 2557.
McGoldrick, Leif K., and Jan Halámek. (2020). “Recent Advances in Noninvasive Biosensors for Forensics, Biometrics, and Cybersecurity” Sensors 20, no. 21: 5974.
Schneider PM, Prainsack B, Kayser M. (2019). The Use of Forensic DNA Phenotyping in Predicting Appearance and Biogeographic Ancestry. Dtsch Arztebl Int.; 51–52(51–52):873–880.
