Can a single cell end wrongful convictions? Five scientists walk through a crime scene
A body has been found in a woodland. Her identity is unknown. So is when she died, how she died, and where she was before she got there. Tonight, a team of forensic scientists is going to find out.In this talk, five specialists walk through a simulated crime scene investigation in real time, demonstrating the actual techniques used to answer the questions that matter most in a criminal investigation.
- Forensic entomologist Katherine Brown shows how the life cycle of a blowfly can narrow time of death to within days.
- Dame Lorna Dawson uses the physical, chemical and biological signature of soil recovered from a victim's feet to trace her movements across London.
- Nicholas Dawnay reveals the DNA success rates that most people, raised on crime dramas, will find deeply surprising.
- Georgios Zouganelis performs a live blood presumptive test on a stained exhibit.
- And Iain Macaulay introduces the SCAnDi project, a new single cell DNA analysis technique that could finally solve one of the oldest problems in forensic science: the mixed DNA profile.
Filmed at the Royal Institution on 6 June 2026.
Between 45 and 66 percent of DNA profiles recovered from crime scenes in Europe contain DNA from more than one person. That makes interpretation extraordinarily difficult, and in some cases dangerous. SCAnDi aims to change that by treating individual cells as the vehicle for DNA evidence, isolating them one at a time, and generating individual profiles where previously there was only an unresolvable mixture.
Please note this talk covers sensitive material including physical violence, death and crime scene reconstruction. It is intended for audiences aged 16 and over.
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- Iain Macaulay is a molecular and cellular biologist at the Earlham Institute, Norwich.
- Katherine Brown is an Associate Professor in Forensic Science at the University of Portsmouth.
- Dame Lorna Dawson is Head of Forensics at the James Hutton Institute.
- Nicholas Dawnay is an Associate Professor at Liverpool John Moores University.
- Georgios Zouganelis is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science at the University of Derby.
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:24 Forensic entomology: using insects to estimate time of death
6:01 Identifying maggot species and calculating age
9:35 What else the crime scene reveals
11:13 Forensic soil science: tracking the victim's movements
19:39 Plant material and pinpointing a location
22:04 DNA at the crime scene: footprints, blood and biological evidence
34:39 The touch DNA problem
37:37 Testing for blood: a live demonstration
43:00 Mixed DNA profiles and the limits of current forensic science
52:47 The SCANDI project: single cell DNA analysis and the future of forensic evidence
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