A team of investigators led by scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, AZ have found a revolutionary way to identify possible suspects at crime scenes. The results appear in PLoS Genetics, a peer-reviewed open-access journal published by the Public Library of Science.

Using genotyping microarrays, the scientists were able to identify an individual's DNA from within a mix of DNA samples, even if that individual represented less than 0.1 percent of the total mix, or less than one part per thousand. They were able to do this even when the mix of DNA included more than 200 individual DNA samples.

The discovery could help police investigators better identify possible suspects, even when dozens of people over time have been at a crime scene. It also could help reassess previous crime scene evidence, and it could have other uses in various genetic studies and in statistical analysis.

"This is a potentially revolutionary advance in the field of forensics," said the paper's senior author, Dr. David W. Craig, associate director of TGen's Neurogenomics Division. "By employing the powers of genomic technology, it is now possible to know with near certainty that a particular individual was at a particular location, even with only trace amounts of DNA and even if dozens or even hundreds of others were there, too."

Read more from the official release.