Forensic Science and Epigenetics

Epigenetic variation has become an important complement to traditional forensic genetics, offering new ways to interpret biological traces and extract investigative information beyond sequence-based DNA profiling. This volume brings together current approaches that apply DNA methylation and related epigenetic markers to forensic questions, reflecting the field’s rapid development and increasing methodological depth.

The book introduces the conceptual foundations of forensic epigenetics and the laboratory and analytical techniques that support its applications. It then examines the use of methylation signatures to address challenges such as distinguishing monozygotic twins, identifying body fluids, and performing age estimation from blood, Y-chromosome markers, semen, saliva and skeletal tissues. These chapters demonstrate how epigenetic tools can extend across biological materials commonly encountered in casework.

Further contributions explore epigenetic strategies for postmortem interval estimation and consider how these methods may complement existing forensic anthropology and pathology approaches. A concluding chapter looks ahead to future developments, including technological, ethical and legal considerations shaping the field’s trajectory.

By integrating molecular biology, bioinformatics, forensic science and anthropology, this volume offers a coherent resource for researchers, practitioners and students seeking to understand how epigenetic insights can strengthen forensic inference.