This blog is a collection of student comments on the concepts and questions that they are examining as they are introduced to forensic science.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
Coating Clears Up Fingerprints
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Forensic Student Displays Artistic Talent
To emphasize the need to develop our students' talents across the WHOLE curriculum, here are examples of our science students, who have also spent significant time pursuing and developing their artistic talent. In these hard economic times too often cuts are made in the arts. These works are strong evidence for educators and communities to insist on maintaining a full and meaningful curriculum!!
Kyrie chose for her AP Art portfolio to produce digital renderings of the story behind foxes in Japanese folklore. Currently, Kyrie is a student in the Forensics course. She has taken four years of science in Bronxville, the "Core", our half year Freshman and Sophomore science courses (Core Chemistry Honors, Core Physics Honors, Core Biology Honors and Core Earth Science), and Biology II Honors. Kyrie has also taken AP courses in AP English Literature.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Forensic Scientists Improve DNA Analysis With Mummy-inspired Bone-baking
February 1, 2008 — Forensic scientists analyzing bones found in the Gobi desert discovered that the DNA within them could be surprisingly easily extracted. In an experiment designed to mimic the conditions that affected those bones, baking a particularly difficult sample made the DNA much more easily extracted, probably because it makes it easier to break open more cells and expose more of the DNA molecules. Mummies have always held secrets, but now one of them has led to a new DNA technique.
Our fascination with mummies has sold millions at the box office. Now these preserved people -- mummies more than 800 years old -- are helping scientists reveal the mysteries of the past.
University of New Haven forensic scientist Dr. Heather Coyle is experimenting with a new technique by going back in time.
These are skeletal remains recently gathered from a Gobi desert cave. Surprisingly, Dr. Coyle was able to extract DNA from these mummies, but when she tried the same method on a body found in the USA, she was not as successful. "We realized that the bone we were trying to process was not yielding DNA from the case we were working on," Dr. Coyle said.
Standard DNA procedure for bones is to freeze them. When Coyle and her team re-examined the mummy remains they realized the Gobi desert created a natural bone baking process.
"It makes the bone more brittle so it makes it easier to grind and break open more cells, so we think we are accessing more DNA to begin with," Dr. Coyle said. Dr. Coyle decided to mimic nature by baking the cold case bones for 72 hours. Liquid nitrogen was then poured into a pulverizer. The bone was placed inside, ready to be crushed. After a short cycle the bone was turned to powder and ready for DNA extraction.
Coyle hopes her new technique will someday help close the book on several cold case files.
Summary:
When I was in sixth grade, I learned about Egyptian mummies in history class. Six years later, I found this article about forensic scientists in Egypt and how they could easily extract DNA from mummies! Even though the mummies had been dead for thousands of years, their DNA was still present. This article made me curious. How does a person’s DNA last for thousands of years? I thought the DNA had decomposed long ago. Not only did I find this article interesting myself; my parents were also amazed when I told them about it. Lastly, I would like to point out that this article reminded me of the King Tut exhibit at my favorite museum.
However, this article could have been done better in two ways. First of all, I think the original text was too long. Second, I think the author’s writing style was a little too opinionated. This is a news article, not an editorial!
Lastly, I think this article should not only be used in schools, I also think people outside of school (friends, family, penpals, etc.) might find this as interesting as I did. Hope you liked my summary, and don’t forget to comment. That is all.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0201-baking_out_dna.htm
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
A study on the effect of storage duration and fabric type on DNA quantity extracted from dried seminal stains.
Forensic Breakthrough: Recovering Fingerprints on Fabrics Could Turn Clothes Into Silent Witnesses
This new technique is known as vacuum metal deposition (VMD). This new technique uses gold and zinc to recover the fingerprint mark that is being investigated as part of the research project. VMD is a highly sensitive technique already used to detect fingerprint marks on smooth surfaces such as carrier bags, plastics and glass.
Joanna Fraser, a forensic sciences researcher at the University of Abertay Dundee, said: "The research uses fine layers of metals to display fingerprints people may have left on fabrics, something which is far harder to do with soft surfaces. The technique has been around since the 1970s and is used on many surfaces but was never widely used on fabrics.”
The process begins when they place the fabrics in a vacuum chamber. Then they heat up the gold to evaporate, and spread a film over the fabric. Then they heat up the zinc, which attaches to the gold where there are no fingerprint residues. This helps see the fingerprints and is shown on the original fabric.
I thought that this article was very interesting. It is fascinating about the new techniques of fingerprinting and how this new development can prove that the suspect committed the crime or not.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110131073141.htm
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
On the Scene: Improvised Tools of the Trade
Cinderella Robbery
I thought this article was very interesting because it showed me that scientists can extract DNA from almost anything. They were able to capture a man purely by having his shoe. Another thing I thought was interesting was the fact that the man lost his shoe, I mean they are supposed to be tied to your feet. But I digress... I guess this man will tie up his laces before he committs his next crime.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/16/nyregion/queens-robbery-case-hinges-on-a-sneaker.html?ref=forensicscience
Osama bin Laden's DNA: How sure is 99.9 percent sure?
This article relates to the United States in particular. It touches on insecurities society has on the confidence of Bin Laden’s death. There is a possibility, very unlikely, that the body does not belong to Bin Laden, however, there is a high probability that that is not the case. Also, it is important for society to understand that DNA testing is never 100% accurate/confident and that there is always room for error.
This article was well written and informative, however I would have liked to see the author put a positive perspective on Bin Laden’s death, rather than the concerning/no hope comment at the end. The article’s mood seemed pretty hopeless in terms of ever being confident in the body’s identification.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/forensics/osama-bin-ladens-dna-how-sure-is-ninety-nine-point-nine-percent-sure-5680593
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Forensics: Overweight People Really Are Big-boned.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110322105300.htm
posted for J. Weir
Monday, May 2, 2011
Kevin Bisconti
There now is a new way to conduct autopsies without using any type surgery. This method can be used for natural and violent deaths alike also for individual deaths and mass fatalities. This new method is also friendly towards certain religions that have certain ceremonies for the deceased.
This new method came about from the University of Leicester under professor Rutty. The new autopsy starts off with an injection to the neck with contrast and take a full body CT (Computed Tomography) Scan by using this method forensic pathologist are able to determine up to 80% of deaths. This technique looks at the vessels of the heart of the deceased. This method also is very inexpensive and easy to use in all cases whether they are natural or unnatural death.. This still is in the works but the university plans to run many more test with many different scenarios.
I think that this was a very interesting article. However I don’t not think they went into that much detail about how the operation is done. I would have liked them to go into further detail about how the operation is preformed.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110301111253.htm
New Technique to Help Catch Sexual Offenders: Scientists Detect Condom Lubricant on Fingermarks for the First Time
While some sexual offenders think that they can get away with their crime by using a condom, a new technique being developed at Sheffield Hallam University puts them out of luck, for this new method can detect condom lubricant on fingerprints left by a suspect at a crime scene. This proves that the offender has had contact with a condom. This would enable forensic scientists to provide further support to the evidence in alleged cases of sexual assault.
Condoms have been used more often by sexual offenders for the reason of preventing the risk of STDs and the transfer of potential DNA evidence, thinking this would also lower the chance of them getting caught. However, this new method can link a suspect, identified by their fingermark, to the crime in one analysis and can aid police in proving that an offence has taken place. And it is hoped the technique might be used to match lubricant found on a fingermark with residues from vaginal swabs collected from the victim.
Researchers have even proved that this technique was successful even on fingermarks left several weeks before analysis. They also hope this technique can eventually be used to identify specific lubricants that can possibly indicate a specific condom manufacturer or even the particular brand. Researchers hope to find that breakthrough soon enough to further support evidence in cases of sexual assault in even a stronger way.
I thought this article was particularly interesting not just for the fact that this newly developed method can determine a suspect to be placed at the scene of a sexual assault, but also for the fact that the fingermarks in contact with lubricant can be carefully examined using advanced imaging equipment to map ridge patterns and therefore identify a specific individual as the suspect. It is also interesting that researchers might possibly find a way to identify the type of condom lubricant and/or identify the specific condom brand from the fingermarks.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Criminal Investigation - Forensic Sculptor
Some of his two most memorable career achievements have been: John List was a wealthy, religious man who in 1971 killed his whole family. When Bender got the case, List had been at large for 18 years. Frank constructed the bust of List from old photos aging the man by 18 years. List was apprehended eleven days after the sculpted bust was aired on America's Most Wanted. As well as Rossella Atkins, who in the late 1987, The Philadelphia Police Department asked Frank Bender for help with an unidentified body found in a field behind a high school. He imagined this young woman as someone looking for something better in life. When he created a bust of her head, he had her looking up with her head tilted back. After two years of canvassing the neighborhood with the bust, the police had got no leads so they handed the bust back to Bender who donated it to the Philadelphia College of Physicians where they put it on display. Three weeks later a woman felt drawn to the display – the clay bust turned out to be her grand niece, Rosella Atkins. He has also assisted in the capture of six of America’s Most Wanted including including Alphonse Perisco, the Colombo crime family boss; Robert Nauss, convicted murderer and former head of the Warlocks motorcycle gang; and Hans Vorhauer, a convicted methamphetamine manufacturer and burglar.
Bender’s work was fascinating to me because of his ability. The story mentioned in the article took me by surprise because of the incredible skills he has, and his capability to construct a person’s facial features when he has so little talent and when the person has become nearly unrecognizable. I was also intrigued because of his talents because I think it is exciting to know there are people in the world who have this ability to identify criminals when in many cases, those connected to the victim might give up hope on a case until Frank Bender changes everything.
http://www.suite101.com/content/forensic-sculptor-a37550
posted for A. Sher
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Forensic Anthropology Study Correlates Weight with Bone Shape
Friday, April 8, 2011
SPACE FORENSICS MIGHT POINT TO A MARTIAN ANCESTRY
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
NEWS FLASH! Search continues as 3 bodies prove not to be those of missing woman
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Crime Scene 101: Locating and Documenting Evidence
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Research Will Help ID Bodies Left Behind by Chilean Earthquake, Pinochet Regime
This research affects humanity because now with this new sort of technology, identification of victims in other types of tragedies can be found earlier in the process and can even result in an earlier day for an autopsy.
I thought that this article was an interesting article because the research according to the chart of different heights and other characteristics can help determine the identification of the victims in the Chilean earthquake.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100914095936.htm
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Study Examines Why Innocent Suspects May Confess to a Crime
This article relates to human behavior. Forensic science is more than just uncovering what happened at a crime scene, it’s also to understand why it occurred. This is a similar idea, understanding why people may falsely confess is important because we can then find an alternate way of questioning people in a way so they don’t need to lie. Understanding this and hopefully changing the approach to questioning will allow innocent suspects to be free and help determine who the real suspect is.
This article was very interesting; however I wish the article provided statistics of how many people avoided the proximal consequences in the two experiments. I think it would have validated the article’s point more.
http://www.forensicmag.com/news/study-examines-why-innocent-suspects-may-confess-crime
Monday, February 28, 2011
Forensic Breakthrough: Recovering Fingerprints on Fabrics Could Turn Clothes Into Silent Witnesses
Currently a new technique in fingerprinting is being researched by forensic scientist in Scotland. This new Technique would allow the fingerprint of a suspect to be lifted from an article of clothing, something that has not been done before. For the past thirty years a team located at the University of Abertay has studied fingerprints and this new method seems to be successful.
The process in which this is done requires the use of the elements Zinc and Gold. This is know as VMD or Vacuum Metal Deposition, however this process has been around for some time. Joanna Fraser, a forensic scientist currently studying this method explains. "The research uses fine layers of metals to display fingerprints people may have left on fabrics, something which is far harder to do with soft surfaces. The technique has been around since the 1970s and is used on many surface but was never widely used on fabrics.”
I think that this new technique of fingerprinting can greatly help in the field of forensic science as well as law enforcement when it come to catching criminals.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110131073141.htm
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Solving Cases with Technology: Voice Stress Analysis
Forensic Breakthrough: Recovering Fingerprints on Fabrics Could Turn Clothes Into Silent Witnesses
The University of Abertay Dundee and forensic experts are currently studying its use in the examination of clothing and see if this evidence could act as a "silent witness" and bring value to an investigation. As research continues, recovering fingerprints have been successful on a number of other fabrics besides cotton, such as silk, nylon, and polyester. In the past, it was proved difficult to distinguish a clear fingerprint on fabric, but it is shown that it is now possible. Further research on this method will further improve the method itself and prove its effectiveness.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110131073141.htm
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Touch DNA
Touch DNA
Touch DNA is used to process an item someone has touched. We are always shedding skin cells when we touch something. We leave skin cells behind. Scientists can use skin cells left by criminals to develop a DNA profile. Scientists can take a small sample of skin cells and make as many copies of the DNA as they need to perform their analysis. This process provides a highly specific genetic portrait of the person profiled. The whole process takes only takes a few days . This is much less time than is needed for traditional DNA processing. The right samples of DNA must be collected. This method can be used on samples taken from guns, steering wheels, cell phones, glass, plastic, wood, cloth, fabric, etc.
This article is important because it can impact the world of crime in a positive light. With touch DNA, we can now more accurately identify suspects of a crime scene based on the skin cells they have shed. Not only can we identify skin cells but also materials such as guns, cell phones, and clothing. This way, all suspects of a crime can be identified.
The only criticism I have about the article is that many aspects should be explained more thoroughly. It is a bit brief on the methods of examination.