Who will help forensic science mature as a discipline?

Edition: US - Today's top story: Now who will push ahead on validating forensic science disciplines? [Click here to view this message in your web-browser](. Edition: US 19 April 2017 [[The Conversation]Academic rigor, journalistic flair]( Editor's note It’s not news that forensics has a way to go before it’s a mature science. In fact some subdisciplines (think using bite marks as identifiers) have been completely debunked – but still end up admitted as evidence in court. Last week Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he wouldn’t be renewing the independent National Commission on Forensic Science, instead rolling its work on “improving the reliability of forensic science” into other initiatives at the Department of Justice. West Virginia University’s Suzanne Bell – a member of the Commission – writes about [the different worlds of science and the law](, and why a science agency should be the one charged with getting forensics up to speed. In Georgia’s historically deep-red 6th Congressional district yesterday, Democrat Jon Ossoff sought to flip the district in a “jungle primary.” Jeff Lazarus of Georgia State University and a resident of the 6th examines whether the election is really [a bellwether for midterm elections in 2018](. And today, we kick off a mini-series for Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month. Our first story takes a look at the calculations that serve up your recommendations on Netflix – and how that same math [could help fight cancer](. Maggie Villiger Senior Editor, Science + Technology Top story When lawyers submit forensic evidence in court, is there legit science to back it up? AP Photo/Pat Sullivan [Now who will push ahead on validating forensic science disciplines?]( Suzanne Bell, West Virginia University Forensics has a way to go before it's a mature, academic science. Attorney General Jeff Sessions just terminated an independent commission charged with helping it get there. 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