Trace

Brief

Bacsa Hacks 2026 Closed Challenge:

Participants have to build a forensics platform/software system that receives biological evidence (DNA samples and fingerprints) from crime scenes and outputs a ranked list of suspects along with confidence scores and an analysis explaining the reasoning. Success is measured not just by finding one correct answer, but also by how well teams model uncertainty, justify their assumptions, and reason their forensic interpretations.

What it does

• Integrates DNA and fingerprint analysis in one system
• Produces a ranked list of suspects instead of a single match
• confidence scores and reasoning explanations
• Helps investigators interpret evidence faster and more transparently

How we built it

• Hair Fiber analysis based on color, texture, etc.
• DNA matching using the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm for sequence alignment;
• Fingerprint Matching using ORB _ BFMatcher
• Dynamic Weights computing; DNA: sequence length/validity, Fingerprint: clarity & key points
• Gemini Powered report with ranking explanation, suspect analysis, assumptions, case notes, algorithm overview

Challenges we ran into

• Balancing fingerprint and DNA matching scores, which both operate in fundamentally different algorithms and return results in different scales

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Managing the building and deployment of the system

What we learned

What's next for Trace

• Fully functional Database for handling suspect data across sessions
• AI Agent for drafting and sending emails to forensic teams/investigators based off the report.

Built With

• fastapi
• python
• react
• render
• vercel
• vite