An account from China in 1248 describes the use of science to solve a crime. Since then there have been many developments in forensic science – but, as Prof. Niamh Nic Daeid of the University of Dundee explains, there are areas where more advances are needed.

And with each advance, she says, there can be risks and challenges. She looks ahead to what might be on the way, from new and more sensitive methods of detecting DNA to the increased use of AI and the development of virtual reality to recreate crime scenes.