Michelle Taylor

Editor-in-Chief

Forensic

Michelle Taylor has worked on the Forensic brand since 2016. Well established in the industry, Michelle has attended dozens of scientific conferences and conducted interviews with key opinion leaders, including multiple Nobel Prize winners and award-winning forensic scientists. Michelle enjoys writing about investigative forensic genetic genealogy, novel psychoactive substances, next-generation sequencing, sexual assault kits and more. Michelle received her BA in journalism from Elon University in North Carolina. Michelle can be reached at [email protected] Michelle can be reached at [email protected]

DDP Identifies 1983 Teen Victim of Larry Eyler, the Highway Killer
July 26, 2023
Investigators and genealogists with the DNA Doe Project have identified another victim of serial killer Larry Eyler, also known as the Highway Killer. read more
2 Years after Cold Case Arrest, Man Charged with Additional Rapes
July 19, 2023
Nearly two years ago, investigators and forensic experts used forensic genetic genealogy to link Edward Gilbert Duran to a 1997 rape. Since then, Duran has been charged with five additional sexual assaults. read more
What We Know About the Gilgo Beach Investigation So Far
July 17, 2023
Here is a review of some of the most pertinent information, along with the critical steps investigators have taken in recent years to try to bring justice that is long overdue. read more
Study Says Hand Odor Can Reveal a Person’s Sex
July 12, 2023
In a new study, forensic researchers determined a person’s biological sex can be confirmed by their hand odor with extreme accuracy. read more
NYC Gun Crimes Lab Halves Turnaround Time to 30 Days
June 27, 2023
New York City’s DNA Gun Crimes Unit is now the fastest big city lab for testing and analyzing gun crimes evidence. read more
Ohio Governor Seeks $26 Million for Narcotics Intelligence
June 26, 2023
Less than a month after announcing $3 million in funding for 44 local law enforcement agencies to help their drug task forces, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is seeking even more for narcotics intelligence. read more
Human Ancestors May Have Buried their Dead 335,000 Years Ago
June 21, 2023
Forensic anthropologists have found evidence of ancient human burials that predate the earliest currently known Homo sapiens’ burials by at least 100,000 years. read more
Jiu Jitsu Club Helps Advance Fiber Evidence Research
June 12, 2023
Members of a university’s jiu jitsu club recently teamed with forensic scientists to stimulate real-world assaults and fill a large knowledge gap in trace evidence. read more
Police to Use AI in Case of Boy Missing Since 1991
June 05, 2023
Police are hoping new technology will help them solve the case of an 11-year-old boy who went missing in 1991—but that technology is not genetic genealogy. Rather, it’s an artificial intelligence (AI) service. read more
Zombie Drug Hits the UK as Ketamine Skyrockets in the U.S.
June 02, 2023
In May 2022, a 43-year-old UK man known to be an illicit drug user died of an overdose associated with xylazine. The death is the first due to xylazine in the UK. read more
Ancient DNA Reveals Presence of 4,000-Year-Old Plague, Oldest in UK
June 02, 2023
The team extracted ancient DNA from the teeth of 34 individuals across the two sites, screening for the presence of Y. pestis. read more
DNA Hit of the Year: Lessons in Terrorism and Criminal Law
May 25, 2023
Dr. Noora Al Snan was finally able to link the detonation of 34 IEDs to one man—who was not in the DNA database. This was thanks to a creative application of familial searching and the common in-breeding seen in some populations in Bahrain. read more
Genealogy IDs Birth Mother of Now-healthy 4-Year-Old Abandoned in the Woods
May 22, 2023
On the night of June 6, 2019, two teenage girls went outside to empty out their car before a significant thunderstorm was expected to hit the area. Once outside, they heard the unexpected—what sounded like a baby crying. read more
2023 DNA Hit of the Year Finalists: Thieves, Terrorists and Serial Killers
May 22, 2023
On Tuesday, at the 2023 Human Identification Solutions (HIDS) conference, GTH-DNA will unveil the “DNA Hit of the Year.” read more
Genetic Genealogy IDs 1977 Victim of Samuel Little, U.S.’s Most Prolific Serial Killer
May 19, 2023
Forty-six years after her remains were found in Macon, Georgia, genetic genealogy has helped identified Yvonne Pless as one of the 93 victims of the U.S.’s most prolific serial killer, Samuel Little. read more
How Turtle DNA Raised Serious Human DNA Privacy, Ethical Concerns
May 17, 2023
The team expected some human eDNA to end up in their sea turtle samples, but the quantity was significantly more than anticipated. That gave the researchers an ethical pause. read more
INTERPOL Makes Black Notice Public for First Time to ID 22 Female Murder Victims
May 15, 2023
The woman in the well. The woman with the flower tattoo. The burned body in the forest. The body in the carpet. The woman by the motorway. These are just a few of the 22 unidentified woman. read more
Mississippi Accelerates Rape Kit Timeline While Tennessee Fails Backlog Bill
May 08, 2023
The best way to get these numbers down is by taking these rapists off the streets. In order to do that, their DNA has to be linked to a rape kit. And in order to show that, rape kits need to be processed—quickly, not years after the crime. read more
Board Releases Draft IGG Standards, Accreditation Requirements
May 03, 2023
After almost a year, IGGAB has published a draft of the proposed standards for investigative genetic genealogy (IGG). The draft is available for public comment until May 30, 2023. read more
Biographers: Draft News Article Shows Rosalind Franklin was Part of DNA Team
May 01, 2023
“Together, these documents suggest a different account of the discovery of the double helix. Franklin did not fail to grasp the structure of DNA. She was an equal contributor to solving it.” read more