Forensics - The Science of Crime

This documentary takes two cases, the killing of a woman in Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, and the murder of a hospital nurse in Glasgow, to demonstrate how the entomologist Jens Amendt and the forensic soil expert Lorna Dawson work.

Crime scene investigation in the laboratory: molecular biologist Dr. Harald Schneider extracts DNA from very small traces. Already 0.5 square millimeters are enough to uniquely identify genetic material.

A weapon is found at the scene of a crime. An important question for the investigators: Was the victim shot with this weapon? Molecular ballistics can make a decisive contribution to clarification.