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.
No. There is no time stamp on DNA, so far as I know.
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I think you mean to check for that wherever they're lying to see if the body had been moved?
Well, not everyone evacuates upon death. Also the clothing absorbs most of it, and any that leaks through could also have leaked through after being moved. But yes, that could be an indication that the body had been moved just as bloodstains would.
Hope that helps!
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I would suggest biology or chemistry, but that was what everyone took when I started out, so I may be behind the times. Your best bet is to call the crime labs you might wish to work at and ask what they prefer. Also check employment postings on the forensic organizations websites, such as IAI and AAFS. That's the only way to be more certain what they actually want.
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It will turn a dark red brown once it's completely dry, and will stay that color so far as I know if conditions stay consistent. If it changes further it would probably just fade a bit.
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Wouldn't that get the whole crime scene wet? And wouldn't a layer of hair indicate that the hair was a diversion, since obviously no one would normally shed that much hair while committing a crime. It scattering hair wouldn't affect fingerprints or touch DNA, which crime scene techs would be looking for more than hair anyway. Most labs don't even analyze hair any more. Also, I should clarify, hair cells don't have nuclear DNA. DNA in hair usually comes from the skin cells that hold the hair in your scalp and cling to the root. So if you're using cut hair there would not be any nuclear DNA to obtain. Mitochondrial DNA is a different type of DNA present in your cells' mitochondria. It will be the same throughout your body but is passed down unchanged from mother to child so it will be identical with your mother, your mother's siblings (assuming the same grandmother), your siblings from the same mother, your first cousins from your maternal aunts, etc. But very very few labs test mitochondrial DNA so it's unlikely it would be tested from your crime scene unless it was extremely high-profile and they had no other evidence to use. And then they'd have to have a suspect to compare it to or it would be useless. (CODIS, the national DNA database, is nuclear DNA.)
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If you look over previous answers, you'll see that it depends upon the requirements of where you want to work. My job requires only a high school diploma but gives extra points for college degrees, so we all have at least a BS. A larger lab might require a BS. If you're doing DNA work they might require a PhD. The only way to know for sure is to call a few places you might be interested in and ask what they require. Best of luck!
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If you're going to be a DNA analyst, you will probably not be working with gunshot residue as well. DNA labs are tending to want their analysts to have a PhD in genetics and focus solely in that area, but it would be best if you called labs at which you might want to work and make sure. Best of luck.
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