Individualisation
Definition
The ability to distinguish one individual organism from all others of the same species. In plant forensics, individualisation requires profiling a locus (or set of loci) that varies between individuals within the relevant population.
- Core purpose
- Narrowing evidence to a single origin, person, or individual
- Common example
- Matching a fingerprint to one person
- Contrast
- Contrasted with classification, which places evidence in a group or category
Common questions
What's the difference between individualisation and classification in forensics?+
Classification sorts evidence into groups or categories, like matching a fingerprint to a common pattern type. Individualisation goes further, narrowing that evidence to a single origin, like matching a fingerprint to one specific person.
How does individualisation work in plant forensics?+
Plant forensics requires profiling genetic loci (specific locations on DNA) that vary between individual plants within the same species. By finding variation at one or more loci, investigators can distinguish one organism from all others of that species.
Can broken tools be individualised?+
Yes. A broken tool can be individualised by matching it to a specific blade, showing it came from one unique source rather than just a general class of tools.
Related terms
- Class Characteristics
- Features deliberately or systematically imparted to a group of items by design or manufacture, such as the calibre of a bullet, the...
- Criminalistics
- The application of scientific methods, especially physical and chemical analysis, to detect crime and identify criminals. The term was systematised by Hans...
- Daubert Standard
- The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
- Forensic Science
- The application of scientific methods and knowledge to questions that arise in legal proceedings. The goal is producing findings that are reliable,...
- Frye Standard
- The US legal test for admissibility of scientific evidence, originating from Frye v. United States (1923), which required that a technique be...
- Parkinsonia Florida
- The Blue Palo Verde, a thorny desert tree of the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. The species...
- Physical Evidence
- Any tangible item or material that can help establish or disprove a fact relevant to a case. Distinguished from testimonial evidence by...
- Population Sampling
- Collecting DNA profiles from multiple individuals of the same species at the scene and in the surrounding area to estimate how common...
- RAPD (Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA)
- A PCR technique using short arbitrary primers (8-10 bases) that bind at multiple sites across a genome, generating a fingerprint pattern of...
- Reconstruction
- The stage at which all analytical findings are assembled into a coherent account of how an event unfolded. Reconstruction draws on scene...
Explained in these topics
- The Palo Verde Seed CaseThe ability to distinguish one individual organism from all others of the same species. In plant forensics, individualisation requires profiling a locus (or se...
- What Forensic Science Is: Definition, Aim and ScopeThe process of narrowing a source to a single origin, as in matching a fingerprint to one person or a broken tool to one blade. Contrasted with classification,...