LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
I know they utilize most a GC and Mass Spec, a Gas Chromatograph and a Mass Spectrometer, but I've never used either one.
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If the stain is still visible, then clearly the semen is still there, so I see no reason why it wouldn't still have DNA in it. There might be a mixture from swabbing up the skin cells as well as the stain.
Hope that helps!
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Could you clarify that question? I'm not sure what mean.
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CPR Trainer
Just how effective is the Heimlich, really?
Professor
Are professors really subject to the "Publish or Perish" policy?
Architectural Project Manager
Were there any structural deficiencies in the Twin Towers that made them fall?
A) Totally unrelated to forensics.B) Already have it so it's not relevant.
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You will most likely need at least an associates degree in forensics or a natural science. How agile you need to be depends on what you're doing--if you're working in a lab, consistently on level ground, a disability would not be an issue. If you're doing crime scene work and you need to sometimes climb on top of roofs or into attics, out in fields, etc., then you need to be mobile. But nothing like police officers or rescue personnel.
Hope that helps!
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I would think they’d have to get rubbed off. I don’t know how one could hold a knife tightly enough to stab someone without smudging all the prints on the grip. Guns, despite what you see on television, are terrible surfaces for prints, though I guess if you were very careful and maybe propped the butt on something, I suppose you could use it without grasping and smudging some areas, like the grip (if it were smooth, otherwise it likely wouldn’t retain any prints anyway) or a shiny, chromed barrel. A knife, maybe if it was big enough that you could grip only part of the handle and leave the prints on the other part undisturbed. Or maybe part of the blade if you didn’t stick it in the body all the way. But I would think it would be tough to do.
Hope that helps!
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