Forensic body fluid identification: state of the art

Harbison, SallyAnn; Fleming, Rachel

doi:10.2147/rrfms.s57994

Cited by 85 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 161 publications

(294 reference statements)

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“…In both instances, development of fingermarks was successful indicating that there are other factors during the firing process that affect the fingermark recovery, such as the blowback of the hot gasses produced from the burning of the propellant powder, or some by‐products of the propellants that adhere to the surface of the cartridge and hinder visualization. Although Girelli et al's study approaches the subject as close to real crime scene samples as possible and included many cartridge cases (100), the small number of donors makes the drawing of conclusions difficult. Nizam et al used electrolysis only, which successfully developed fingermarks in 1 of 4, spent cartridge cases, and used only one donor.…”

Section: Ammunition/cartridge Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…KEYWORDS: forensic science, fingermarks, fingerprints, enhancement techniques, metallic surfaces, latent fingermarks Fingermarks are considered one of the most valuable types of physical evidence recovered from a crime scene. Fingermark casework is still the most common casework for forensic scientists despite the increase in use of DNA (1) to identify/exonerate suspects via bodily fluids (2). The ridge patterns found in fingermarks are permanent and can be used to individualize or exclude suspects from an investigation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detection of Fingermarks—Applicability to Metallic Surfaces: A Literature Review

Christofidis

Morrissey

Birkett

2018

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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There are many different fingermark visualization techniques available, and the choice of methodology employed may be dependent on the surface type. This comprehensive review of the scientific literature evaluates the methodologies of fingermark enhancement methods that are applicable to metallic surfaces; optical, physical, chemical, and physicochemical methods are critically discussed. Methods that are currently used and those that have the potential to reduce the cost and time required to process evidence and increase the recovery rates are considered and are assessed against the Centre for Applied Science and Technology (CAST) and the International Fingerprint Research Group (IFRG) guidelines. The use of chemical imaging techniques in particular has increased the potential to recover fingermarks of sufficient quality for identification purposes. Presently, there appears to be a lack of detailed research pertaining to validation and thorough casework studies for fingermark enhancement techniques. Further studies incorporating these guidelines are recommended.KEYWORDS: forensic science, fingermarks, fingerprints, enhancement techniques, metallic surfaces, latent fingermarks Fingermarks are considered one of the most valuable types of physical evidence recovered from a crime scene. Fingermark casework is still the most common casework for forensic scientists despite the increase in use of DNA (1) to identify/exonerate suspects via bodily fluids (2). The ridge patterns found in fingermarks are permanent and can be used to individualize or exclude suspects from an investigation.Detection of fingermarks on metallic surfaces will be dependent upon the compounds remaining from the fingermark residue. Several detailed reviews have already been published on fingermark composition, but none have focused on fingermarks deposited on metallic surfaces (3,4).Generally, there are two types of fingermarks found at crime scenes: visible fingermarks, usually formed by fingers contaminated by a substance such as oil, fruit, grease, paint or blood, which are deposited on a surface; and latent fingermarks, which are invisible to the naked eye and are the most abundant type of fingermarks at crime scenes. Metallic surfaces are also commonly encountered in crime scenes and are ubiquitous in the environment. Surfaces such as the door of a car, objects like handles, weapons, and tools are usually made of steel. Cartridge cases are frequently recovered from crime scenes and are usually made of brass or nickel (5). There are a number of different techniques that can be applied to a surface to visualize latent fingermarks. The selection of a suitable technique depends on different factors, such as the expected composition of a fingermark, the ability of the chosen technique to be used in tandem with other techniques, and the nature of the substrate. In this review, the focus will be on fingermarks deposited on metallic surfaces, and the optical, physical, chemical, and physicochemical visualization techniques that can be used ...

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Section: Ammunition/cartridge Casesmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Fingermarks—Applicability to Metallic Surfaces: A Literature Review

Christofidis

Morrissey

Birkett

2018

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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“…In addition, DNA methylation methods use a significant portion of the sample, are lengthy, and do not perform well with menstrual blood (Choi, Shin, Yang, & Lee, 2014;Jung et al, 2016). Please refer to the review by Harbison and Fleming for a more in-depth discussion of emerging body fluid identification methods (Fleming et al, 2013;Harbison & Fleming, 2016).…”

Section: Forensic Dna Profilingmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of direct polymerase chain reaction of DNA and RNA for forensic purposes

Lynch

Fleming

2019

WIREs Forensic Science

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Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling is frequently carried out on biological stains in forensic casework, and the application of messenger RNA (mRNA) body fluid identification is becoming more prevalent. Increasing constraints on analysis time, resources, an increase in the number of samples for analysis, and a large backlog of cases creates significant demand for quicker methods that direct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can help overcome. Direct PCR bypasses DNA and/or RNA extraction, and in some cases, quantification by adding the sample or substrate punch to the amplification reaction. This method is currently used in some laboratories on reference samples. Direct PCR is also a component of portable devices, which could improve efficiency even further by producing results at the scene, and enabling triaging of samples for further testing. Portable devices are currently used for STR profiling of reference samples but not for mRNA profiling. Various concerns regarding the reliability of the method and equipment (portable devices) must first be addressed before incorporation into forensic casework. This review discusses the limitations and factors that need to be considered for direct PCR to be used for the analysis of casework samples, including being used for mRNA body fluid identification. This article is categorized under: Forensic Biology > Forensic DNA Technologies Forensic Biology > Body Fluid Identification Forensic Biology > Applications of RNA

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“…There is no known presumptive test for menstrual blood due to its composition. However, this body fluid has been successfully differentiated from other body fluids using molecular approaches (Lindenbergh, et al, 2012;Harbison and Fleming, 2016).…”

Section: Menstrual Bloodmentioning

confidence: 99%