CapCell was featured in the Portuguese national newspaper Diário de Notícias in an article on new forensic technologies that could help improve the investigation of sexual crimes.
The article highlights the contribution of Portuguese researchers Catarina Xavier and Nádia Pinto from i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, University of Porto, one of the 13 partners in the CapCell consortium led by Maastricht University. Their team contributes expertise in forensic data analysis, interpretation, statistical mixture analysis and bioinformatics pipelines for next-generation sequencing data.
CapCell aims to develop a modular forensic toolkit using microfluidics and single-cell genomics to separate, isolate, sequence and interpret individual cells from complex DNA mixtures, supporting clearer DNA profiles in cases where conventional methods may fail.
English summary
For our non-Portuguese-speaking readers: The article explains how CapCell addresses one of the main challenges in forensic genetics: distinguishing DNA from different individuals in mixed biological samples, particularly in sexual crime investigations. It presents the role of i3S researchers Catarina Xavier and Nádia Pinto in the project and describes how CapCell’s microfluidics and single-cell genomics approach could help forensic laboratories generate clearer, source-specific DNA profiles from complex evidence.