Isotope analysis
A recent development in forensic science is the isotopic analysis of hair strands. Hair has a recognisable growth rate of 9-11mm per month or 15 cm per year. Human hair growth is primarily a function of diet, especially drinking water intake. The stable isotopic ratios of drinking water are a function of location, and the geology that the water percolates through. Sr, Sr and oxygen isotope variations are different all over the world. These differences in isotopic ratio are then biologically 'set' in our hair as it grows and it has therefore become possible to identify recent geographic histories by the analysis of hair strands. For example, it could be possible to identify whether a terrorist suspect had recently been to a particular location from hair analysis. This hair analysis is a non-invasive method which is becoming very popular in cases that DNA or other traditional means are bringing no answers.
Human brain
As a hominid brain, the human brain is substantially enlarged even in comparison to the brain of a typical monkey. The sequence of human evolution from "Australopithecus" (four million years ago) to "Homo sapiens" (modern humans) was marked by a steady increase in brain size. As brain size increased, this altered the size and shape of the skull, from about 600 cm in "Homo habilis" to an average of about 1520 cm in "Homo neanderthalensis". Differences in DNA, gene expression, and gene–environment interactions help explain the differences between the function of the human brain and other primates.