Preview

What Is Serology? How Do Forensic Scientists Use Serology?

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2647 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is Serology? How Do Forensic Scientists Use Serology?
Serology
Serology? What is serology? How do Forensic Scientists use serology? Serology is the study of blood, blood serum, saliva, semen, and other bodily fluids. However the reason that this became a discipline of Forensic Science is because forensic scientists can use the DNA found from the different assortments of bodily fluids in order to narrow down and eliminate possible suspects.
Forensic Serology is the study of serology in the relation to crimes and other legal matters, using a biological approach to the law and crime investigation.
Forensic serologists mostly work on homicides, rapes, and assaults, as well as paternity disputes. Forensic scientists in the field of serology usually have a bachelor’s degree and work for law
…show more content…
In a presumptive test you can conduct an Acid Phosphatase test, which can help in detecting the presence of semen. However this test called “presumptive” for a reason; there are many factors that can alter or contaminate the evidence and therefore falsify the test’s accuracy on the suspected sample. The Acid Phosphatase test can also yield false results because of the test’s high sensitivity. Consequently it can easily be altered by the activity of the enzyme, Acid Phosphatase, the age of the stain, the type of environmental conditions that the sample was and is exposed to, and the presence of vaginal secretions and other bodily fluids. Vaginal secretions can alter the test’s accuracy for semen because it contains, however small, certain amounts of the enzyme, Acid Phosphatase. There are other types of bodily fluids that can alter the test’s accuracy too, but the contamination done by most of these other bodily fluids is miniscule and usually does not alter or contaminate the sample enough to yield false results. There is another type of test called the light test, which uses specialized lights in order to reveal the presence of semen. This test is considered to be “quick” and “easy” because it is useful with preserving both time and money when determining semen’s presence in a suspected area. However, there are many other types of molecules that fluoresce in ways similar to semen; therefore it can be difficult sometimes to determine that a sample really is semen or some other type of molecule. There is another type of test that is used when trying to confirm that a suspected sample really is semen called the Prostate Specific Antigen test. This test can help to aid in the determining of the presence of the prostate specific antigen, (PSA) which is found in the male prostate

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    RLG206

    • 540 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Determined by the Forensic Anthropologist, denotes importance in a medico-legal investigation and to police  What is forensic significance?…

    • 540 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Forensic scientists collect and analyze the evidence, give an expert testimony, and train other law enforcement individuals on how to record and collect evidence.…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Forensic Science 1.06

    • 658 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Forensic science, is the application of science to the criminal justice system. Forensic science is any science that is used for the purposes of the criminal justice system. Forensic scientists use forensics to help determine who committed a crime. For example, forensic scientists are able to compare fingerprints from a crime scene with databases of fingerprints in order to find who was at the scene of a crime.…

    • 658 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    1. Forensic Science is the use of science within the criminal justice system in order to assist in studying criminal acts.…

    • 625 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    -Brief Description- Forensic scientist’s help investigators solve crimes by analyzing the pieces of evidence that have been gathered from a crime scene. They might work with a wide variety of evidence types, or specialize in an area such as DNA evidence or fingerprint examination.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Forensic anthropology involves locating, documenting, excavating, recovering, and analyzing human skeletal remains in a medico-legal context. This course covers the field components of forensic anthropology, from planning a search for someone presumed dead to excavating a clandestine grave.…

    • 1860 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    4 Lesson4 Worksheets

    • 1218 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Bite mark analysis, determining or ruling out possible suspects in crimes using the bite marks…

    • 1218 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The background information about forensic anthropology is the science of physical anthropology. Also forensic anthropology is the study of humankind there are different types of cases for example murder , suicide , and homicide. Anthropologists only study dead or decade bodies.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Forensic Science is the application of science to the criminal justice system. It is basically any science that is used for the purpose of the criminal justice system…

    • 451 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Imagine having a job where you have to examine and analyze bones all the time. That's what forensic anthropologists do. But it's not as easy as it sounds. Forensic anthropology is examination of human skeletal and decomposing remains in a legal setting to establish the identity of unknown individuals to help determine the cause of death. According to paragraph 1 in the article "What is forensic anthropology?" by R.U. Steinberg, forensic anthropologists usually work in crime scenes, political atrocities, and suspicious death. They collect, prepare, and analyze human remains. They identify the cause of death, work with forensic odotologists and testify in court about the victim's identity.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Forensic evidence is a type or forensic science, which is a science applied to answering legal questions. This evidence can draw together knowledge from a single field, or it could be a combination of fields. Whatever the field may be, the evidence is applied and used to help reconstruct a crime case. There is also a branch called Criminalistics, which deals with the examination…

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Forensic Science - application of science principals. Scientists analyze the material from criminal scenes. (example: identifying offenders, making evidence available for trials)…

    • 1745 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    2. What three tasks or responsibilities does a forensic scientist have? collect and analyze the evidence found at a crime scene, apply the techniques from the physical sciences and use their knowledge of these areas in order to make sense of the evidence that has been collected from a crime scene, interpret the evidence.…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Being a Forensic Pathologist is a career that many people would like to have. However, they are not always successful in following all of the steps to achieve this profession. Forensic Pathology is not just about concluding the cause of death for a deceased person; there are many rules you have to follow to make sure the autopsy is done right. This profession is a very high paying career and is also very costly to go to school for it. I will explain why I would like to be a Forensic Pathologist, along with the salary, the tasks that they perform and all of the educational requirements.…

    • 752 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Forensic Pathology

    • 1316 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Their main job is to determine the cause and manner of death of the person and be able to possible present it before a jury (“Forensic”). They must also be able to diagnose the mechanism of death to explain why the person is no longer able to live. There are also clinical forensic pathologist who work with living patients who have experienced sexual assault or abuse. Though it is more commonly for forensic pathologist to be working with patients once they are no longer living. Forensic pathology is an extremely hard field to get into, due to the limiting number of positions around the country. Unlike some doctors, some forensic pathologist have to be voted into the position if they are planning on working in smaller counties. Forensic pathology is a job that is often worked by hand and can take hours to do. However, the increase of technology has changed the world of forensic pathology that has created new ways of determining the cause of…

    • 1316 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays