As any detective will tell you, to solve a murder it is crucial to know the exact time of the victim's death.
It can mean the difference between an alibi holding water or being discounted - and was previously only possible up to 36 hours after the unfortunate event.
But now Austrian scientists have come up with a method that allows calculation of the time of death even after ten days.
By looking at how proteins in pig muscles decay, they get an accurate guide as to when life ended. The process of the muscle tissue degrading is similar to what happens when steaks are aged - and researchers have now started experiments on human samples.
Dr Peter Steinbacher, who is leading the University of Salzburg study, said: "We were able to detect similar changes and exactly the same degradation products in human muscle tissue as we had in our pig study." Benefits of the technique include the ease of collecting a tissue sample and the fact that relevant tests can be carried out in a day.
