ABSTRACT
No forensic discipline has seen such rapid change in such a short time as forensic biology. Indeed, in the 1980s, the term “forensic biologist” was rarely if ever used. Analysts that tested blood were serologists. Now serologists are a rare sight in forensic laboratories. The science of DNA has also influenced forensic science more broadly and is considered by many to be a model of excellent forensic practice in which controls are clear and results are reported along with a probability. This type of approach is becoming increasingly important in other types of pattern evidence-construction of databases and calculation of probabilities. We will see several examples in the sections to come.
