Forensic Science

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Forensic Science, also known as Forensics, is the application of

science to law. It uses highly developed technology to uncover scientific

evidence in a variety of fields. Modern forensic science has a broad range of

applications. It is used in civil cases such as forgeries, fraud or negligence.

The most common use of forensic science is to investigate criminal cases

involving a victim, such as assault, robbery, kidnapping , rape, or murder.

Forensic science is also used in monitoring the compliance of various

countries with such international agreements as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention and to learn whether a country

is developing a secret nuclear weapons program. It can help law enforcement

officials determine whether any laws or regulations have been violated in the

marketing of foods and drinks, the manufacture of medicines, or the use of

pesticides on crops. It can also determine whether drinking water meets legal

purity requirements.

The medical examiner is the most important individual in an

investigation of a crime involving a victim. It is the responsibility of the

medical examiner to visit the crime scene, conduct an autopsy (examination

of the body) in cases of death, examine the medical evidence and lab reports,

study the victims history, and put all the information together in a report to be

turned in to the district attorney.

Medical examiners are usually physicians specializing in forensic

pathology, the study of structural and functional changes in the body as a

result of injury. Their training and qualifications most often include a medical

degree and an apprenticeship in a medical examiners office.

In the field of forensic science, there are many subspecialties. They

include odontology (the study of teeth), anthropology(the study of human

beings), psychiatry, biology, chemistry, physics, toxicology (the study of

poisons), and pathology (the examination of body tissues and fluids). The

medical examiner may call upon forensic scientists who are specialized in

these fields for help in a crime investigation.

Toxicology is a branch of forensic science that deals with the adverse

effects of drugs and poisonous chemicals found in the home, at work or in the

environment. All drugs have toxic effect but the effect is most often minor.

The toxic effect of drugs...

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...d, communities began requiring that coroners have specific academic

training. In 1877, Massachusetts replaced the coroners office with the Office

of the Medical Examiner, which was to be headed by a physician. Soon many

other states followed. In 1915 New York City established a program where

the medical examiner was authorized to investigate all deaths that occurred to

people who appeared to be in good health, that resulted from criminal

violence, accidents, or suicides.

Computer technology now allows law enforcement officers o record

fingerprints digitally and to transmit and receive information for quick

identification. Recent developments in technology allows scientists o examine

the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or genetic material of blood, hair, skin, or

semen to see if they belong to the victim or the suspected criminal. Using

polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a lab can clone the DNA from a very small

sample of one of those substances.

Forensic science as practiced today is a field of science medicine that uses

electron microscopes, lasers, ultraviolet and infrared light, advanced chemical

techniques and computerized databanks to analyze and research evidence.

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