SHREVEPORT, La. — The North Louisiana Crime Laboratory in Shreveport has begun using new DNA analysis software designed to help forensic scientists interpret complex or damaged DNA evidence that previously may have been too difficult to analyze.
The laboratory is the 99th forensic lab in the United States to adopt STRmix, a probabilistic genotyping software used to analyze mixed DNA samples from crime scenes. The software has been used in more than 700,000 criminal cases worldwide since its introduction in 2012, according to a laboratory news release.
Officials said the technology has been especially helpful in violent crime, sexual assault and cold case investigations by producing usable DNA results from evidence that was once considered inconclusive…