Forensic science
The latest chemistry news and research on forensics, including trace analysis, toxicology and DNA analysis, from the Royal Society of Chemistry's magazine, Chemistry World
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Opinion
Science can make doping tests more trustworthy
Contamination cases at the Olympics and beyond highlight the need for minimum reporting thresholds for drug testing in sport
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Opinion
What’s lurking in your drink and drugs?
How to test illicit substances at festivals and identify the rodent in your beer
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News
British cyclist’s doping case raises questions over testing precision
Lizzy Banks’ case puts exceptional sensitivity of tests under scrutiny
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News
New European Union Drugs Agency to strengthen bloc’s response to illicit drugs
EUDA will have broader remit to respond to challenges illicit drug pose
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News
Three new recreational drugs discovered in checks by Australian chemists
Analytical service uncovers novel psychoactive substances with no known safety data
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Research
New spray-on dyes can instantly reveal fingerprints at crime scenes
Fluorescent molecules are simple to use and non-toxic
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Opinion
Hunting vampires with the help of DNA profiling
What was draining the life out of 18th and 19th century New Englanders?
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Feature
Using DNA evidence to picture suspects
Forensic DNA phenotyping predicts people’s appearance and reveals their ancestry, finds Andy Extance, but has some significant challenges to overcome
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Research
Vlad the Impaler may have shed tears of blood
Protein analysis sheds light on the medieval ruler who may have inspired Dracula
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News
Chemical weapons watchdog opens new lab as end nears for deadly munitions
New facility will allow OPCW to address changing nature of threat from chemical weapons
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Opinion
The toxic nature of yew, the tree of the dead
Historically associated with resurrection, yew is poisonous enough to kill
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Opinion
From the St Valentine’s Day Massacre to modern ballistics analysis
Computational methods are making firearm evidence more statistically sound
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Opinion
Mass spectrometry to catch Christmas tree thieves and timber traffickers
Forensic chemistry can help uncover pine pilfering and fiendish fir felling
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News
Alarm sounded after chemists discover new analogue of ketamine in Australia
Long-term health effects of novel psychoactive substance are unknown
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Feature
How a murder and a bombing cleaned up DNA profiling
The UK pioneered a forensic process to identify suspects from tiny amounts of DNA, but occasional flaws had big consequences. Andy Extance pieces together the whole story for the first time
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Feature
The human health observatory in our sewers
From tracking disease outbreaks to monitoring drug use, there’s a lot to be learned from the things we flush down the toilet, Katrina Krämer finds
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Research
Edible, fluorescent silk tags could help stem tide of counterfeit medicines
Marker could be a simple answer to ensuring provenance of drugs