...INTRODUCTION TO FORENSIC SCIENCE Quote "Every contact leaves a trace." - Edmond Locard (1877 - 1966) Learning Objective(s) At the end of this topic, you should be able to: 1. Define 'Forensic Science'; 2. Explain the limits of Forensic Science; 3. Identify the types of forensic work; 4. Describe Locard's Exchange Principle; 5. Differentiate Reconstruction & Re-enactment. Synopsis To illustrate the scope and diversity of Forensic Science, place it in its legal context, and describe the various types of forensic work. There will also be a discussion of Comparison leading to Association, Reconstruction versus Re-enactment, Locard's Exchange Principle, and the limits of Forensic Science. Various case studies will also be analysed throughout the lecture. Case Studies Felicia Lee; Walter Dinivan; Madam Jetkor Miang Singh; Roberto Calvi; Buck Ruxton & the Jigsaw Murders; Acid Bath Haigh; 2005 London Bombings; "Brides in the Bath"; Gareth Williams; The Woodchipper Murder WEEK 2- CHEMICAL ANALYSIS IN FORENSIC SCIENCE Quote "Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea" The act is not culpable unless the mind is also guilty. Learning Objective(s) At the end of this topic, you should be able to: 2A. Atomic Structure & Spectroscopy 1. Explain the structure of the atom and Bohr's model; 2. Differentiate between emission and absorption spectroscopy; 3. Explain the chemistry behind EDX and SEM-EDX; 4. Explain the chemistry in NAA; 2B. Molecular Spectroscopy...
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...geneticist who developed techniques for DNA fingerprinting and DNA profiling that are now used worldwide by investigators to bring justice to perpetrators as well as to resolve paternity and immigration disputes. Jeffreys was born into a middle-class family in Oxford, where he spent the first six years of his life until 1956, when the family moved to Luton, Bedfordshire. He attributes his curiosity and inventiveness to having been gained from his father, as well as his paternal grandfather, who held ma ny patents. When he was eight, his father gave him a chemistry set, which he enhanced over the next few years with extra chemicals, even including a small bottle of Sulphuric acid. He says he liked making small explosions, but an accidental splash of the sulphuric acid caused a burn, which left a permanent scar on his chin (now under his beard). His father also bought him a...
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...The Science and Ethics of Genetic Engineering Research & Position Paper Table of Contents DNA Fingerprinting/ Genetically Modified Foods --------------------------------------------------- p. 3 Gene Therapy/Cloning------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p. 4 Stem Cell Technology------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ p. 5 Position Paper------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- p. 6-7 Bibliography-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- p. 8-10 Evaluation Rubric----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- p. 7 DNA Fingerprinting DNA fingerprinting are tests that help to identify and analyze a person’s DNA. The term “fingerprinting” is used because finger prints, like DNA, vary from person to person and no two people have the same DNA or fingerprints. So, when scientists identify a person’s DNA, it can only be linked back to one individual and can help to obtain information about that specific individual. DNA fingerprinting can be done through many different ways. Some ways are through blood samples from a vein or heel, saliva samples, skin samples, or hair samples. The purpose of DNA fingerprinting is to help link family members together, find things that cause diseases, to help aid in crime scene investigations, and to...
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...1)Introduction; Crime today is at an extreme high. However, forensic science has been there to help solve every crime committed Forensic science is the scientific method of gathering and examining information about the past. The word forensic comes from the Latin forēnsis, meaning "of or before the forum. The word forensic basically means the key to solve a crime.This is the technology used to help forensic teams to analyze and solve crimes.- This is especially important in law enforcement where forensics is done in relation to criminal or civil law,[1] but forensics are also carried out in other fields, such as astronomy, archaeology, biology and geology to investigate ancient times. Forensic Science is used to Identify Criminals Rape, murder, theft, and other crimes almost always leave a devastating mark on the victim. . In modern forensic science, the crime laboratories include photography section, Evidence storage section, identification section, chemistry section, General examination section, Fire arms section, instrument section and crime scene search section. 2)Origins of forensic science: In 16th-century Europe, medical practitioners in army and university settings began to gather information on the cause and manner of death. Ambroise Paré, a French army surgeon, systematically studied the effects of violent death on internal organs.[9][10] Two Italian surgeons, Fortunato Fidelis and Paolo Zacchia, laid the foundation...
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...‘unofficially’ regulate DNA analysis and force ‘private companies to adopt its technological system’” (Edmond 130). These debates in the courtroom have led to regulations that are in place to ensure the proper gathering and testing of DNA evidence so that only accurate evidence is admitted in court. Suspects have a right to a fair trial and following the DNA wars, fair trials include correct evidence to be presented otherwise they may be acquitted or a mistrial may be declared. One of the factors to ensuring correct evidence is a process known as the chain of custody. The chain of custody, if followed properly, keeps track of continuity of possession. Evidence must be correctly...
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...Jeffreys is a British geneticist who developed techniques for DNA fingerprinting and DNA profiling that are now used worldwide by investigators to bring justice to perpetrators as well as to resolve paternity and immigration disputes. After finishing his doctorate, he moved to the University of Amsterdam, where he worked on mammalian genes as a researcher, and then to the University of Leicester in 1977, where in 1984 he discovered a method of showing variations between people's DNA, formulating and developing genetic fingerprinting. Jeffreys says he had an “eureka moment” in his lab in Leicester after looking at the x-ray film image of a DNA experiment on 10 September 1984, which surprisingly showed similarities and differences...
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...How has our knowledge of DNA improved the study of criminal forensics? Introduction Through genetics, the study of DNA, we are able to figure out what and how genes are responsible for many things like our hair color or why do some people look a lot like their parents and others don’t. It also allows us to understand better how species evolve and how are they related to each other. It is important to understand how DNA mutates, changes and replicates in order to get information about what mechanisms cause DNA to change. In the 1970s scientists developed a DNA sequencing technique and other methods to manipulate and analyze DNA. This gave them the basic tools to start exploring the DNA blueprint which provided the techniques for a vast international project called The Human Genome Project (MRC). The Human Genome Project which was a major international project with the goal of decoding all our genetic information by 2003. A rough draft was done in June 2003 and it was a huge milestone that helped us understand how our genes can determine who we are (Genome Project). Many of today’s advances in DNA and biotechnology allow scientists and medical doctors to potentially cure genetic disorders through gene therapy by inserting, deleting or manipulating genes (Tillery, page 686). Another use of DNA technology is the creation of mutation by transferring DNA from one organism to another through techniques like cloning and introducing new DNA sequence into an organism to alter...
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...technology, characteristics like fingerprints, DNA, eye retinas and irises, voice pattern, facial patterns, and hand measurements are all used for authentication purposes. Biometric science did not originate at one single place as people all over the world have been using it for identifying individuals from each other. The history of biometrics dates back to as early as the 14th century in the form of fingerprinting by China. This was reported by explorer Joao de Barros who wrote that the Chinese merchants were stamping children’s palm prints and footprints on paper with ink so young children could be identified from one another. This primitive form of biometrics is still being used today. Biometrics was used in the 1800 in for form of photographic memory. It wasn’t until the 1890’s that an anthropologist and police desk clerk in Paris, Alphonse Bertillon, created a field of study to find a way to identify convicted criminals. Bertillon developed the technique of taking multiple body measurements and was used throughout the world until it was discovered that some people have the same measurements making this technique unusable. After this failed the police went to fingerprinting which was created by Richard Edward Henry of Scotland Yard, who just reverted back to the same methods the Chinese had been using for years. Biometrics has seen drastic advancements over the last thirty years moving from the single method of fingerprinting to multiple methods. There are many biometric...
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...DNA profiling (also called DNA testing, DNA typing, or genetic fingerprinting) is a technique employed by forensic scientists to assist in the identification of individuals by their respective DNA profiles. DNA profiles are encrypted sets of numbers that reflect a person's DNA makeup, which can also be used as the person's identifier. DNA profiling should not be confused with full genome sequencing.[1] It is used in, for example, parental testing and criminal investigation. Although 99.9% of human DNA sequences are the same in every person, enough of the DNA is different to distinguish one individual from another, unless they are monozygotic twins.[2] DNA profiling uses repetitive ("repeat") sequences that are highly variable,[2] called variable number tandem repeats (VNTR), particularly short tandem repeats (STR)s. VNTRs loci are very similar between closely related humans, but so variable that unrelated individuals are extremely unlikely to have the same VNTRs. The DNA profiling technique was first reported in 1984[3] by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester in England,[4] and is now the basis of several national DNA databases. Dr. Jeffreys's genetic fingerprinting was made commercially available in 1987, when a chemical company, Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), started a blood-testing centre in England.[5] Contents [hide] 1 DNA profiling process 1.1 RFLP analysis 1.2 PCR analysis 1.3 STR analysis 1.4 AmpFLP ...
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...How has the development of fingerprinting techniques in forensics increased the succession rate of convicting criminals from the period of 1890-1950? Introduction The birth of forensic science within the use of the police force revolutionised how crime investigations were conducted, via the work of the forensic scientists, or also known as ‘forensic officers’. This work would consist of collecting evidence from a crime scene such as looking for fingerprints on either a suspected murder weapon used by the murder or on a touchable surface which is in the crime scene where the suspect laid their hand on. Furthermore this collectivisation of evidence from the crime scene could mean collecting; foreign fibres (unusual fibres that seem to look like that they do not belong their i.e. due to their different colour, type of fabric or thickness of the fibre.); retrieving bullets and firearms form the crime scene and any possible DNA samples that can be collected in the crime scene such as blood spatter on the walls of a room, where in this case the crime was committed. This evidence would then be sent to be analysed by more forensic scientists in different subdivisions to help led a path to a final suspect, thus leading the police to a quick and successful conviction of a criminal and bring justice to their crimes. Overall this revolution of the police force saw the birth of a new era of fighting crime throughout the whole of the country, as well as throughout the rest of the...
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...Future interrogation and interviewing Technologies For centuries man has always tried to find ways to communicate more efficiently, when it came down to preventing crimes, investigating crimes and solving crimes. Therefore the study of future technology and methods has sparked the interest of scientist and developers to create a systems or method that would prove to be just as accurate as our DNA system is today. Their goal is to utilize this technology within an interview or interrogation setting. When it comes to detecting if someone is tell the truth, scientist are working on new technology that promises to be more accurate for lie detection. If these new technologies prove to be successful, not a violation of the suspect’s constitutional rights and the results become admissible in the court of law. This would then become a major breakthrough for investigators; when interviewing a suspect in an interrogation room. When speaking to witness officers so often relay on line up and photo’s (Mug spots) which are stored within in their computer data base. Scientists are also working on ways to present witness the virtual evidence, tele-presents of the suspect by means of Holograms. Holograms are used today but may be used in the future during interrogation and interview rooms. Holograms would actually be put in place of the actual interrogator or interviewer. The benefit of this technology is using an image of the victim with hopes of scaring a confession from the criminal...
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...Laboratory Exercise #8 DNA Fingerprinting: Identification of DNA Restriction Fragmentation Patterns I. Introduction All humans have in common the coding sequences of their DNA, but, unless you are an identical twin, the non-coding sequences of your DNA are like no other person’s on the planet. The bulk of human DNA does not code for specific genes and is highly repetitive. A British geneticist, Alec Jefferies, developed laboratory techniques in 1984 that became known as DNA fingerprinting. These techniques can identify the differences in repetitive nucleotide sequences between individuals, but also show where sequences are the same and, therefore, have been inherited. DNA fingerprinting can be used to detect genetic disorders, identify individuals, settle paternity disputes and determine guilt or innocence when presented as evidence in a crime scene investigation. This ability to identify an individual is enhanced by the variety of substances that contain DNA, including blood, semen, saliva, hair, urine, bone, teeth, feces, and tissues. DNA profiling is one of the most important applications of the techniques used in the field of forensics. Crime scene investigation routinely includes the collection of evidence that may contain DNA in the hopes that it may provide a link to a suspect. The genetic comparison doesn't require that investigators look at the entire genome of the DNA samples found at the crime scene or from a suspect. Instead, forensic scientists use genetic...
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...Forensics History Theresia L. Coates Criminal Justice 1010 Forensics History What does Forensics mean? How old is forensic science? When it was first applied to the law? How has the Forensic science changed the arrest and prosecution success of criminals? The term "forensic" comes from the Latin and means, simply, having to do with the law. How has Forensics evolved from the beginning until today? Let us delve into the history of forensics and its blossoming partnership with the law. Surprisingly, Forensic Science has been around and used in criminal investigations in some manner since before the Roman Empire making it centuries old. It has only been within the last century that law enforcement agencies and the court systems have come to rely so heavily on the use of scientific practices in crime scene investigations.1 The first application of forensic science was by the Roman physician Antistius in the year 44 B.C., whom examined the body of Julius Caesar. He determined even though the dictator was stabbed 23 times, only one wound through his chest caused his actual death. This autopsy is thought to be the first one recorded and the start of using forensic science. Here in the Greek and Roman society extensive knowledge was developed regarding the production, use and symptoms of various poisons, making it possible to identify their use in previously undetected murders. Thanks to these western civilizations advances in the medical field as well as pharmacology were...
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...water that can break down the chemical structure of DNA. This type of exposure damages DNA by randomly breaking the molecules into smaller pieces. Inhibitors of the polymerase chain reaction can also interfere with the ability to recover a full DNA profile from biological evidence (Forensic DNA, 2014). Current technology is being researched and developed to recover information from smaller regions of DNA, which are more likely to be intact following any possible damage. These new tests include mini short tandem repeats (STRs) which use PCR primers close to the STR repeat region and single nucleotide polymorphisms (Forensic DNA, 2014)....
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...CRJ 311 Entire Course (Ash) FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT www.crj311nerd.com CRJ 311 Week 1 Assignment The CSI Effect CRJ 311 Week 1 DQ 1 Peer Review CRJ 311 Week 1 DQ 2 Your First Scene CRJ 311 Week 1 Journal You're an Expert! CRJ 311 Week 2 Assignment Conducting Your Own Field Sobriety Test CRJ 311 Week 2 DQ 1 Drugs and Scheduling CRJ 311 Week 2 DQ 2 Field Sobriety Tests CRJ 311 Week 2 Journal SANE or Not CRJ 311 Week 3 Assignment Case Study Analysis The Enrique Camarena Case CRJ 311 Week 3 DQ 1 Hair Evidence CRJ 311 Week 3 DQ 2 Arson Dogs CRJ 311 Week 3 Journal Professional Painter CRJ 311 Week 4 Assignment What's Your Impression CRJ 311 Week 4 DQ 1 Bite Mark Evidence CRJ 311 Week 4 DQ 2 Fingerprint Evidence CRJ 311 Week 4 Journal Cold Case Investigation CRJ 311 Week 5 DQ 1 Blood Patterns CRJ 311 Week 5 DQ 2 DNA Evidence CRJ 311 Week 5 Final Paper CRJ 311 Week 5 Journal Cold Case Investigation ======================================================== CRJ 311 Week 1 Assignment The CSI Effect (Ash) FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT www.crj311nerd.com Read “Fact or Fiction?; The Jury is Still Out on the CSI Effect; A TV-Insprired Interest in Forensics Has Left the Courtroom Vulnerable to Junk Science,” which is located in the ProQuest database in the Ashford Online Library. What is the CSI Effect, and do you believe it is a legitimate concern? In your paper, address the following: Summarize the CSI Effect and evaluate if it is a legitimate concern. ...
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