DNA - using the code to determine identity |
Watch Forensics on Trial on PBS. See more from NOVA. 
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PCR simulations
Today we are doing 2 simulations of PCR amplification. Paternity Testing and Forensic Identification. You will generate two reports one will come from each member of the team. In the Forensic ID lab you will run across a dead link called "primer table"
Remember Amelogenin is used for sex determination
Therefore, when the amplicons are run on an agarose gel, samples from male sources (XY) will show two bands on an agarose gel (one for the 106 bp fragment and one for the 112 bp fragment), whereas females (XX) will show only one band. Thus, this process allows for sex determination of unknown samples.
Remember Amelogenin is used for sex determination
Therefore, when the amplicons are run on an agarose gel, samples from male sources (XY) will show two bands on an agarose gel (one for the 106 bp fragment and one for the 112 bp fragment), whereas females (XX) will show only one band. Thus, this process allows for sex determination of unknown samples.
Biometrics
Facial Recognition
Facial Recognition is going to be utilized for identifying criminals and identifying you.
What is the balance between public safety and your privacy? Fingerprints - A combination of low tech and high tech solves many cases in the US everyday | |||||||
Handwriting Analyisis
Today we will focus on handwriting analysis. Follow the link to the Handwriting Analysis activity and complete it.
When there's a suspect in a crime and the evidence includes a handwritten note, investigators may call in handwriting experts to see if there's a match. In some cases, it might be the one piece of evidence that gets a suspect charged and eventually convicted. But what if it's a false match? How exactly do experts go about analyzing someone's handwriting?
The primary basis of handwriting analysis as a science is that every person in the world has a unique way of writing. When we were all kids in primary school, we learned to write based on a particular copybook - a style of writing. Which copybook our handwriting is based on depends on when and where we grew up for good examples of copybooks from different countries and eras). So at first, we all probably wrote in a similar way to kids of our own age and location. But with the passing of time, those writing characteristics we learned in school - our style characteristics - became only the underlying method of our handwriting. We developed individual characteristics that are unique to us and distinguish our handwriting from someone else's. Most of us don't write the way we did in first or second grade. And while two or more people may share a couple of individual characteristics, the chance of those people sharing 20 or 30 individual characteristics is so unlikely that many handwriting analysts would say it's impossible.
When there's a suspect in a crime and the evidence includes a handwritten note, investigators may call in handwriting experts to see if there's a match. In some cases, it might be the one piece of evidence that gets a suspect charged and eventually convicted. But what if it's a false match? How exactly do experts go about analyzing someone's handwriting?
The primary basis of handwriting analysis as a science is that every person in the world has a unique way of writing. When we were all kids in primary school, we learned to write based on a particular copybook - a style of writing. Which copybook our handwriting is based on depends on when and where we grew up for good examples of copybooks from different countries and eras). So at first, we all probably wrote in a similar way to kids of our own age and location. But with the passing of time, those writing characteristics we learned in school - our style characteristics - became only the underlying method of our handwriting. We developed individual characteristics that are unique to us and distinguish our handwriting from someone else's. Most of us don't write the way we did in first or second grade. And while two or more people may share a couple of individual characteristics, the chance of those people sharing 20 or 30 individual characteristics is so unlikely that many handwriting analysts would say it's impossible.
Forensic Training through a game
While I am not a great fan of the show, its success has brought forensic science into many peoples lives popularizing the career. This game designed by students at Rice University does a great job of teaching about the basic tools and skills of a forensic scientist. Click on the picture to the left or on this link to begin.
You should be able to produce evidence that you have completed the first 3 cases by our next meeting on Tuesday. You will need to register.
You should be able to produce evidence that you have completed the first 3 cases by our next meeting on Tuesday. You will need to register.
| forensics_syllabus.doc |
