Chemistry's Crucial Role in Forensic Science

548 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Strength and weaknesses of forensic chemistry

What role does chemistry play in forensics?
In the field of forensic science, chemistry is used to analyse bodies and crime scenes to find out unknown substances and to match them up with known substances. The evidence that is predominantly analysed is drugs, bodily fluids, trace evidence (evidence that occurs in very small portions) and pattern evidence (evidence such as footprints, tyre treads and fingerprints). Chemistry is utilised in this field to uncover physical evidence and discover who has done what. Microscopes and chemical analysis procedures help chemists to understand what substances have been used and how. A key aspect of chemistry in forensics is looking at blood and matching it up with DNA or comparing the amounts of blood to …show more content…

In terms of fingerprint identifying, tools such as ridge pointers and loupes have been invented and/or improved. Ridge pointers, invented in the mid 1970s, are used to count the amount of ridges on a fingerprint sample. Together with the loupe, a small and powerful magnifying glass, ridge pointers enable forensic chemists to identify a fingerprint and match it with others on a database. In relation to fingerprinting, on the 10th of September 1984, Sir Alec Jeffreys finally developed genetic fingerprinting. Genetic fingerprinting allows a small sample of DNA, such as blood, semen or the root on a strand of hair, to be analysed in a very time consuming and difficult process. The DNA is extracted from white blood cells and goes through many processes until a film is produced, showing the DNA typing pattern. This method delivers close to 100% accuracy, letting forensic chemists clearly match it to other DNA and find out who should be convicted of the crime. Another major change to this field in the past 50 years is the invention of the scanning electron microscope. This special type of microscope helps the chemists identify an unknown substance that might have been found at a crime scene as a piece of evidence. The scanning electron microscope ‘shoots’ a beam of electrons at the substance, revealing features such as the lattice structure, compounds within it and also the composition of the object. These microscopes are particularly useful in terms of inspecting gunpowder and gunshot residue, allowing the scientists to match the gunpowder to a gun or bullet.

What ethical dilemmas could arise in the applications of chemistry in forensic science?
The main ethical dilemma that could arise would be if a suspect were unfairly convicted. The evidence has to be 100%

Show More
Related

  • Mystery Powder Lab Report

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    Forensic Science Introduction: Someone in a restaurant has suddenly fallen ill and a mystery powder has been discovered with the victim. As the chief investigator, your duty is to identify the mystery substance through a lab. In this lab, it will consist of five known compounds and one unknown compound. Your job is to distinguish which one out of the five substances is the mystery powder. To figure out the mystery matter you will have to compare their physical and chemical properties and match them with the appropriate compound.

    Read More

  • 1.07 Forensic Evidence

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Other evidence located within the grave consisted of a generic watch, two cigarette butts, a button, a washer and a shell casing. All of these could be analysed for finger prints and DNA. The cigarette butts would also show a serial number indicating the brand (shown in Figure 3), which can be useful if it is found a victim or offender smokes a particular type of cigarette.

    Read More

  • Forensic Science: Blood Spatter Analyst

    1274 Words  | 3 Pages

    Forensic science is a key aspect of Criminal Justice that helps rid the streets of lunatics and murderers. One of the most important fields of forensic science is blood spatter analysis. Under the Crime Scene Investigation, analysts gather the information that could eventually lead to a victim’s killer. Basic and complex information can be found when analyzing blood. We can learn what kind of weapon was used, the time of death of a victim and other important facts that can help a case. The pattern that the blood gives off give forensic scientists the tools that they need to help solve cases.

    Read More

  • Forensic Science In The Real CSI

    841 Words  | 2 Pages

    Crime is a common public issue for people living in the inner city, but is not limited to only urban or highly populated cities as it can undoubtedly happen in small community and rural areas as well. In The Real CSI, the documentary exemplified many way in which experts used forensic science as evidence in trial cases to argue and to prove whether a person is innocent or guilty. In this paper, I explained the difference in fingerprinting technology depicted between television shows and in reality, how DNA technology change the way forensics evidence is used in the court proceedings, and how forensic evidence can be misused in the United States adversarial legal system.

    Read More

  • Trace Evidence

    1592 Words  | 4 Pages

    Trace evidence was first discovered by Edmond Locard. Edmond Locard was born in 1877, and founded the Institute of Lyon’s Institute of Criminalistics. He is also known for advancing the science of fingerprints. In 1910 he was authorized to start a small forensic laboratory in the Palais de Justice which he directed until 1951.While there he worked on criminal identification methods including poroscopy- the microscopic examination of fingerprints; analyses of body fluids, hair and skin; and graphometry or handwriting analysis. He is the man responsible for coming up with the theory that when two objects come in contact with each other they leave some kind of material matter behind. This theory was later called Locard’s Exchange Principle. The idea is that the evidence can be used to associate objects, individuals or locations with one another." A person typically loses about 100 hairs a day. These hairs may be of evidentiary value to show contact between two people. With an adequate hair standard, a trace chemist will be able to microscopically compare a...

    Read More

  • DNA Fingerprinting And PCR

    1046 Words  | 3 Pages

    It was in 1984 when Alec Jeffreys, a British geneticist, discovered that specific sequences of DNA did not add to the function of a gene but were still constant throughout it. (Britannica). Jeffreys called these minisatellites and determined that each individual organism had a unique arrangement of minisatellites (Britannica). In the early uses of DNA fingerprinting, it was only used for identifying genetic diseases and disorders but people quickly realized that it could be used in many different areas of science (hubpages). Years after the discovery of DNA fingerprinting, it had been used to solve the first immigration case, the first paternity case, and even helped identify the first identical twins (le.ac.uk). The first methods of DNA fingerprinting were accurate, but you would have had needed to acquire a large amount of DNA. Over time, the advancement of science has led to major advances that formed the basis of DNA profiling techniques. These newer methods are still used today and allow scientist to use skin, blood, semen, and hair to gather DNA (le.ac.uk). In 1988 DNA fingerprinting was used for the first time in a criminal investigation. Timothy Spe...

    Read More

  • Forensic Toxicology Essay

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    Forensic toxicology is one of the oldest disciplines in forensic science history and dates back hundreds of years. However, the actual understanding and examination of forensic toxicology only dates back for about 200 years. Due to the development of technology, this discipline has been able to progress and flourish.

    Read More

  • Forensics in the Criminal Justice System

    334 Words  | 1 Pages

    The criminal justice system has changed a lot since the good old days of the Wild West when pretty much anything was legal. Criminals were dealt with in any fashion the law enforcement saw fit. The science of catching criminals has evolved since these days. We are better at catching criminals than ever and we owe this advancement to forensic science. The development of forensic science has given us the important techniques of fingerprinting and DNA analysis. We can use these techniques to catch criminals, prove people's innocence, and keep track of inmates after they have been paroled. There are many different ways of solving crimes using forensic evidence. One of these ways is using blood spatter analysis; this is where the distribution and pattern of bloodstains is studied to find the nature of the event that caused the blood spatter. Many things go into the determination of the cause including: the effects of various types of physical forces on blood, the interaction between blood and the surfaces on which it falls, the location of the person shedding the blood, the location and actions of the assailant, and the movement of them both during the incident. Another common type of forensic evidence is trace evidence. This is commonly recovered from any number of items at a crime scene. These items can include carpet fibers, clothing fibers, or hair found in or around the crime scene. Hairs recovered from crime scenes can be used as an important source of DNA. Examination of material recovered from a victim's or suspect's clothing can allow association to be made between the victim and other people, places, or things involved in the investigation. DNA analysis is the most important part of forensic science. DNA evidence can come in many forms at the crime scene. Some of these forms include hair; bodily fluids recovered at the crime scene or on the victim's body, skin under the victim's fingernails, blood, and many others. This DNA can be the basis of someone's guilt or innocence; it has decided many cases in the twentieth century. As the times continue to change and the criminals get smarter we will always need to find new ways to catch them. Forensic science is the most advanced method yet, but is only the beginning. As the field of science grows so will the abilities of the

    Read More

  • Crime Scene Investigator Research Paper

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    The three different main types of fingerprints are Loops, Arches, and Whorls (Jackson 1). Henry Faulds is known as the Father of Fingerprints and developing fingerprints (Jackson 1). His discovery of fingerprints has made a huge impact not only in his time but, in Modern Crime Scene Investigation (Jackson 1). Without fingerprinting, it would be very difficult to convict criminals of crimes and very hard to try to process information. Crime Scene Investigators make a huge impact in Forensic Science. We need CSI workers, without them people could only imagine what crime would be like not only in our community, but in our

    Read More

  • The Job of Forensic Scientist

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    Forensic scientists work in labs where they examine, identify, and interpret evidence collected in crime scenes. Crime scene investigators collect evidence and pass it to a forensic scientist who uses the items in numerous ways to help catch criminals. Forensic scientists must also record the evidence and any tests ran on it in detail to prove the truth in court. A forensic scientist also has to be able to present his or her physical evidence verbally in court, so a strong communication background is important.

    Read More

  • Forensic Science: Stopping the Crime

    1600 Words  | 4 Pages

    Forensic Science, recognized as Forensics, is the solicitation of science to law to understand evidences for crime investigation. Forensic scientists are investigators that collect evidences at the crime scene and analyse it uses technology to reveal scientific evidence in a range of fields. Physical evidence are included things that can be seen, whether with the naked eye or through the use of magnification or other analytical tools. Some of this evidence is categorized as impression evidence2.In this report I’ll determine the areas of forensic science that are relevant to particular investigation and setting out in what method the forensic science procedures I have recognized that would be useful for the particular crime scene.

    Read More

  • Forensic Science History Essay

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    As far back as 1832, James Marsh was the first to use forensics at trial to give evidence as a chemist in 1832. Since that time forensic science and evidence has come a long way in various ways and technology to help in determine if the suspect is guilt or not, through such things as DNA testing, blood, and fingerprints. The first forensic police crime lab was created in 1910. The contributions of Dr. Edmond Locard, a French scientist and criminologist, proposed that “everything leaves a trace”. This principle is still valid today as it was so many years ago. No matter how small, the specialized trained technicians and investigators can take these methods and go to a crime scene to get evidence. “Forensic science is the application of sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, computer science and engineering to matters of law.” (Office of Justice, 2017) These different sciences can help achieve and assist in solving a case. Forensic science has also the ability to prove that a crime was committed, it can find the elements of the crime, it can help place the suspect at the scene and whether the suspect had any contact with the victim. However, in the last several years the techniques and with the use of technology the evidence that forensic science uncovers can also exonerate an innocent individual who has been falsely accused of the

    Read More

  • Essay On Vibrational Spectroscopy

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    Forensic scientists use vibrational spectroscopy for the judicial system. They use the techniques in various cases to cumulate evidence and bring justice. Some of these are for trace evidence, ink analysis, forensic biology and anthropology, gunshot residue and controlled drugs. In each instance, vibrational spectroscopy can be used to provide finger-print like signatures of the samples (Muro. et al., 2015). According to E.G. Bartick, information gained through the use of vibrational spectroscopy is typically of classes of materials. In several cases, due to an uncommon characteristic, a specific component can be identified. For example, if there is a contaminant on materials which were gathered as evidence and it is identified as an atypical substance specific to the scene of the crime, then that evidence would show a great likelihood of originating from that scene. Thus, vibrational spectroscopy can be used to distinguish chemical properties that present inconsistent data to the evidence in the

    Read More

  • Forensic Chemistry Essay

    505 Words  | 2 Pages

    Forensic Chemistry is the application of chemistry and it’s subfield, forensic toxicology, in a legal setting. The scientists that perform this action are forensic chemists. Forensic chemists perform the following: analyze trace evidence a crime scenes to identify unknown substances and materials, analyze drugs from scenes and people, run tests on samples. There are many tasks and responsibilities that these chemists might carry out on a daily basis. For example, carry out examinations and tests, work with data, and many other job duties. Sometimes forensic chemists have to serve as expert witnesses in court. Forensic chemists work in a laboratory setting ranging from a local, state, and federal police departments, chemical examiner’s office,

    Read More

  • How Technology Has Impacted Criminal Investigation

    2200 Words  | 5 Pages

    “The word ‘forensics’ means “connected with the courtroom”; so forensic science is, therefore, concerned with gathering hard evidence that can be presented in a trial” (Innes 9). Forensic science is a science that is applied specifically to legal matters, whether criminal or civil. “Few areas in the realm of science are as widespread and important as forensic science” (Hunter 12). Forensics is the one science that is most commonly used in everyday life. It is also a branch of science that incorporates other branches of science such as biology, chemistry, and etc. Since it is used almost every day “No one can dispute the importance of the contributions to society made by forensic science; the ability to solve crime is undeniably important” (Hunter 13). Forensic science has given criminal investigation a new edge. “Advances in science have opened the door for more effective evidence discovery, howev...

    Read More

More about Chemistry's Crucial Role in Forensic Science

Open Document