Science Media Centre

Anthony Doesburg writes in the New Zealand Herald about the differences between real-world and television-based forensics. Local forensic scientist Anna Sandiford says that while such shows have opened up science for more people, they are often absolutely unrealistic, particularly in terms of the process of forensic science. An excerpt: (read in full here) “That doesn’t [...]

Ian Steward reports in The Press on a new forensic technique to be introduced to New Zealand in the near future. The test, which will allow forensic scientists to see which bodily tissue a DNA sample came from, is being developed by ESR for use by the middle of the year. An excerpt: (read in [...]

Programmes such as CSI have actually been unhelpful to the field of forensics, as they’ve given the public an inaccurate view of what can be done.  This can be problematic when having to present evidence in court, says Dr Peter Gill, an expert visiting from the UK. Dr Gill, who was the first to demonstrate [...]

With the visit of international expert Dr Peter Gill, Eloise Gibson of the New Zealand Herald reports on the growing use of DNA profiling in forensics, and a future where DNA profiles can be searched through internationally using Google-like methods. She also writes about DNA profiling specifically in New Zealand, the unhelpfulness of the ‘CSI-effect’, [...]

It is 20 years since DNA evidence was first presented in a New Zealand court, a development that resulted in the conviction of Michael James Pengelly for the murder of an elderly Auckland woman. Long-used in helping solve serious crimes, DNA samples in the mid nineties were increasingly used as evidence in criminal cases when [...]

DNA Pioneer in SMC briefing As New Zealand forensic scientists prepare to mark 20 years of DNA testing in New Zealand the Science Media Centre is pleased to host an online briefing for journalists featuring one of the founding fathers of DNA forensics, Dr Peter Gill. As this Times article explains, Dr Gill was part [...]