Forensic Biology: A Subdiscipline of Forensic Science

2015 ◽  
pp. 76-99
2001 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 605-608
Author(s):  
Walter Rowe

At the beginning of a new millennium it seems a good idea to stop for a moment and take stock of the current state of forensic science. As a field of scientific research and scientific application, forensic science is a little more than a century old. Forensic science may be said to have begun in 1887 with the simultaneous publication of A. Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet and Hans Gross’s Handbuch für Untersuchungsrichter. Conan Doyle’s novel introduced to the world the character of Sherlock Holmes, whose literary career would popularize the use of physical evidence in criminal investigations. Gross’s manual for examining magistrates suggests ways in which the expertise of chemists, biologists, geologists, and other natural scientists could contribute to investigations. Gross’s book was translated into a number of languages and went through various updated editions during the course of the century. The intervening century saw the development and application of fingerprinting, firearm and tool mark identification, forensic chemistry, forensic biology, forensic toxicology, forensic odontology, forensic pathology, and forensic engineering. Increasingly, the judicial systems of the industrial nations of the world have come to rely upon the expertise of scientists in a variety of disciplines. In most advanced countries, virtually all criminal prosecutions now involve the presentation of scientific testimony. This has had the beneficial effect of diminishing the reliance of courts on eyewitness testimony and defendant confessions.


Author(s):  
Ahmad Syukran Baharuddin ◽  
Mohd Amir Wan Harun ◽  
Aminuddin Ruskam ◽  
Abdul Rahim Yacob

Maqasid al-Shari'ah focusses on each of the elements in al-Daruriyyāt, followed by al-Hajiyyat and al-Tahsiniyyāt. Among the main topics in the discussion of al-Daruriyyāt is Hifz al-Nasl/ Nasb which is the preservation of ancestry. It is admitted that forensic science provides a consistent role in human life. However, only few know the success of forensic science in solving great significance cases in determining the lineage that led to one of the key elements of al-Daruriyyāt in Maqasid al-Shari'ah. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the role of forensic science in determining the heredity. This study has the objective to analyze the classic texts which contain elements of forensic science that led to the determination of lineage, to review the appropriate techniques in determining heredity and analyse relevant cases in determination of heredity proven by forensic science. Method used is this study were historical, inductive and deductive. Scope of the study were the determination of heredity through physical trait analysis and serology (blood) in cases which are not related to Islamic criminal jurisprudence. This study concluded that the forensic biology is an accurate method in preserving heredity and it is in line with the Islamic legal maxims.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 582-591
Author(s):  
Francis Tambo ◽  
Dorcas Naa Odarley Ablateye

Due to the unique properties of nanoparticles, it has gained prominence in lots of fields with extensive research being carried around it. With lots of novel applications arising from this field, Forensic science seems to be one of the fast-growing fields in nano research applications. The growing and extensive use of nanotechnology being applied in forensic investigations is promising and could soon be the tipping point in the discipline. Applications mainly have been related to evidence identification and analysis in the broad major fields in Forensic Science such as single-crystalline semiconductor CdS nano slabs for explosives detection, functionalized TiO2 nanorods for organophosphorus chemical warfare agents in Forensic Chemistry, the use of Nanopowders for latent print visualization in Forensic physics and Gold nanoparticle protein nanopore for detection of single-stranded DNA in Forensic biology. Nanotechnology has also been employed in illegal drug detection in recent times. These and other applications of Nanotechnology provides prompt and precise results with reduced methods due to the limited instruments used for analyzing evidence as well as providing sensitive and selective ways of detecting evidence. As evidence is notable in forensic investigations, nanotechnology’s use in identifying and detecting these has potential in enhancing and providing efficient and rapid means for investigations and unravelling leads into crimes. This review emphasizes some disciplines in forensic sciences in which nanotechnology is having an impact, novel methods and newly developed instruments and also takes into account its challenges as well as perspectives into the future.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-53
Author(s):  
E. I. Maiorova

Professor R.S. Belkin's role in the development of criminology and forensic science is widely recognized. The theory he advanced to connect criminalistics and the natural sciences was of great importance for the establishment of new forensic disciplines. During his time as head of the department of forensic science theory Professor Belkin focused on newly emerging fields of forensic research and the development of their theoretical foundations. His vision was marked by a deep understanding that ecology is a subfield of biology, but forensic ecology is not part of forensic biology. It is largely due to his talent to anticipate the emergence of new trends in response to the needs of investigative practice that these forensic disciplines were established and continue to develop.


Author(s):  
K. Culbreth

The introduction of scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis to forensic science has provided additional methods by which investigative evidence can be analyzed. The importance of evidence from the scene of a crime or from the personal belongings of a victim and suspect has resulted in the development and evaluation of SEM/x-ray analysis applications to various types of forensic evidence. The intent of this paper is to describe some of these applications and to relate their importance to the investigation of criminal cases.The depth of field and high resolution of the SEM are an asset to the evaluation of evidence with respect to surface phenomena and physical matches (1). Fig. 1 shows a Phillips screw which has been reconstructed after the head and shank were separated during a hit-and-run accident.


Author(s):  
R.F. Sognnaes

Sufficient experience has been gained during the past five years to suggest an extended application of microreplication and scanning electron microscopy to problems of forensic science. The author's research was originally initiated with a view to develop a non-destructive method for identification of materials that went into objects of art, notably ivory and ivories. This was followed by a very specific application to the identification and duplication of the kinds of materials from animal teeth and tusks which two centuries ago went into the fabrication of the ivory dentures of George Washington. Subsequently it became apparent that a similar method of microreplication and SEM examination offered promise for a whole series of problems pertinent to art, technology and science. Furthermore, what began primarily as an application to solid substances has turned out to be similarly applicable to soft tissue surfaces such as mucous membranes and skin, even in cases of acute, chronic and precancerous epithelial surface changes, and to post-mortem identification of specific structures pertinent to forensic science.


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