Forensic science splits into branches by the kind of evidence each one examines, from bodies and bones to blood, insects, and hard drives. Most real investigations draw on more than one branch at once.
This page gives a working definition of each major branch and who studies it. It is a map, not a manual, so treat each entry as a starting point rather than the full scope of the field.
What does a forensic pathologist do?
A forensic pathologist performs autopsies to establish the cause and manner of a violent, unusual, or untimely death (National Institute of Justice). The role covers post-mortem exams, evidence recovery from the body, and wound analysis, but it does not cover crime-scene collection, which falls to separate crime-scene personnel.
What does a forensic anthropologist do?
A forensic anthropologist examines skeletal remains to build a biological profile, estimating age at death, sex, stature, and ancestry, and to identify injuries and time since death (National Institute of Justice). The work applies to bone and decomposed remains. It has nothing to say about cases where soft tissue and organs are still intact, which stay with pathology. For more on the discipline, see forensic anthropology.
What does a forensic odontologist do?
A forensic odontologist applies dental records and knowledge mainly to identify human remains, and also evaluates bite marks and estimates age from teeth (American Academy of Forensic Sciences). Bite-mark comparison in particular has drawn scientific criticism in recent years, so courts weigh it more cautiously than dental identification by records.
What does a forensic entomologist do?
A forensic entomologist studies insects found on or near a body, because different species colonize remains at predictable stages after death, to estimate the postmortem interval (Office of Justice Programs). The estimate works for a window of days to weeks after death. It loses accuracy the longer a body has been exposed, and it depends on local climate and insect activity.
What does a forensic toxicologist do?
A forensic toxicologist analyzes biological samples for drugs and other toxins to determine what was present and whether the levels were therapeutic or harmful (National Institute of Justice). This branch answers what substance was involved, not how or why it got there, which is a separate investigative question.
What does forensic DNA analysis involve?
Forensic DNA analysis compares genetic material recovered from evidence against reference samples, and it has helped resolve thousands of cases since the late 1980s (National Institute of Justice). A DNA match places a person’s biological material at a scene. It does not by itself establish when the material was deposited or how it got there.
What does digital forensics involve?
Digital forensics retrieves, stores, and analyzes electronic data useful to an investigation, from computers and phones to vehicles, drones, and cloud storage (National Institute of Standards and Technology). It covers stored and transmitted data, not the physical hardware defects that fall to other forensic engineering specialties.
Does television get forensic science right?
Not reliably. Crime dramas gave rise to the idea of a “CSI effect,” where jurors were thought to demand scientific evidence in every case because of what they saw on screen. A survey of over 1,000 Michigan jurors found little evidence that this expectation actually changed conviction rates (National Institute of Justice). The finding applies to that jury pool and that study design. It is not a claim that television has no effect on how people think about evidence.
Where to go next
Read the history of forensic science for how these branches developed, or forensic anthropology for one branch in depth. The section hub is forensic science, and the wider subject sits in science.
Sources
- National Institute of Justice. Overview of Forensic Pathology
- National Institute of Justice. Forensic Anthropology
- American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Careers in Odontology
- Office of Justice Programs. Forensic Entomology: The Use of Insects in the Investigation of Homicide and Untimely Death
- National Institute of Justice. Forensic Toxicology
- National Institute of Justice. Forensic Biology/Forensic DNA
- National Institute of Standards and Technology. Digital Evidence
- National Institute of Justice. The ‘CSI Effect’: Does It Really Exist?