An Introduction to Forensic Genetics for Non-geneticists

This book aims to enable non-experts in Genetics to understand the contribution of this science to resolve civil or criminal litigations, analysing evidence of human and non-human origins. The main difficulties in the comprehension and misuse of the results of Forensic Genetics reside in the lack of effective communication between geneticists and the users of the produced information (as lawyers and judges) and do not arise primarily from the lack of knowledge of genetics. Therefore, instead of a classical handbook we use a question-and-answer approach, which meets this interfacial essence. Questions that can be addressed by genetic expertise are typified and for each of them we provide the possible expert report, presenting the essential biological and statistical genetics background in the form of boxes/appendices, along with exemplary cases. Legal, ethical, and theoretical limitations of Forensic Genetics are discussed, formulating questions that cannot, or should not, be addressed by this applied science.

Antonio Amorim is Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal. His research on population genetics and evolution and forensic application has resulted in over 500 indexed publications, with over 11,000 citations. He is honorary member of the International Society of Forensic Genetics and has served in many boards of scientific societies and journals.

Nádia Pinto is Associate Researcher at the Institute for Research & Innovation in Health of the University of Porto. She holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, and her research has been focused on the development of mathematical models and software for a wide range of research problems in the field of population genetics, specifically forensic genetics. She has authored more than 60 publications in international peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and proceedings.