As the success of TV series like Silent Witness and CSI proves, the world is hooked on small-screen forensics.

But as this special Research Tuesdays Forum showed, our local expertise renders these stylised fictions dull by comparison.

Associate Jeremy Austin was one of the leading forensics-focused University of Adelaide researchers, who’s presentations showed how:

• dental evidence is gathered and analysed to identify bodies, interpret bitemarks and inform profiling
• advanced DNA-analysis is identifying highly-degraded human remains from as far back as WWII
• detailed soil analysis has helped solve a range of recent and cold-case homicides in Adelaide and interstate
• investigative breakthroughs are increasingly coming through identification of individuals from body-part measurements obtained in images.