New forensic technology will enable investigators to identify individuals at disaster sites and crime scenes, even if their DNA is present in only small amounts and mixed with that of hundreds of other people.

Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, showed that someone's DNA could be distinguished from a complex mixture of genetic samples, even if it made up less than 0.1 per cent of the mix. The discovery is published today in the journal PLoS Genetics.