"New Keywords: Migration and Borders" is a collaborative writing project aimed at developing a nexus of terms and concepts that fill-out the contemporary problematic of migration. It moves beyond traditional and critical migration studies by building on cultural studies and post-colonial analyses, and by drawing on a diverse set of longstanding author engagements with migrant movements. The paper is organized in four parts (i)

Against the background of the research project entitled ‘Transit Migration’ (2002–2004), on migration regimes in Turkey, Greece and the Balkan region, the article will discuss methodological and conceptual problems and challenges of qualitative studies of transit migration. By analysing diverse practices and conditions of ‘transit migrations’ the article will argue against attempts to qualitatively define the phenomena. Rather, it suggests applying the concept of ‘precarious transit zone’ in order to grasp the complexity, unsteadiness, and multi‐directionality of many migrational ‘transit‐biographies’. On an ethnographic level the concept of ‘transit zone’ allows a consideration of different figures of transit migrants from those in the traditional sense of the term, visa‐overstayers or rejected asylum seekers transiting diverse countries on their way forward and increasingly also on their difficult way back to their countries of origin as well as the increasing number of migrants ‘stuck in mobility’. Moreover, the concept urges migration research to adopt an ‘ethnographic regime approach’, which implies a multi‐dimensional research design. It combines ethnographic research with discourse analyses and an analytical focus on the macro level. This shows that transit migration is not only shaped by migration related policies by the EU, nation‐states and international/ intergovernmental organisations, but it is shaped by ‘economies of transit’. Additionally an ethnographic regime approach also analyses the impact of academic research itself in re‐constructing categories used by the governing bodies. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Trace DNA is often found in forensic science investigations. Experience has shown that it is difficult to retrieve a DNA profile when trace DNA is collected from clothing. The aim of this study was to compare four different DNA collection techniques on six different types of clothing in order to determine the best trace DNA recovery method. The classical stain recovery technique using a wet cotton swab was tested against dry swabbing, scraping and a new method, referred to as the mini-tape lifting technique. Physical contact was simulated with three different "perpetrators" on 18 machine-washed garments. DNA was collected with the four different DNA recovery methods and subjected to standard PCR-based DNA profiling. The comparison of STR results showed best results for the mini-tape lifting and scraping methods independent of the type of clothing. The new mini-tape lifting technique proved to be an easy and reliable DNA collection method for textiles.