Ask a Forensic Scientist anything

989 Questions

Last Answer on July 21, 2022

Where you ever shocked by a crime scene?

Asked by Denise_ot5 about 7 years ago

They’re all shocking, in their way, But there hasn’t been one in particular that bowled me over.

if a person licks their fingers in order to aid them in counting money, counts the money and hands ti to another individual who places that money in their bra. Can there be saliva dna transfer to the breast?

Asked by angie almost 7 years ago

I suppose that’s theoretically possible, but I wouldn’t think it likely. The saliva would sink into the paper of the money quickly, and then when swabbing the person’s skin you’d have to happen on the exact spot where that tiny bit of saliva transferred to.

I hope that helps!

647 Votes

So you wanna be a Forensic Scientist?

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I'm going to be graduating high school in a few months and I'm looking to do forensic science, mostly leaning towards biology and examining. I want to know if going to a FEPAC school really matters.

Asked by Morgan over 7 years ago

I'm sorry but I don't know what a FEPAC school is.

647 Votes

Do you worry about the corona virus?

Asked by Jamie about 6 years ago

So far it hasn’t come up in my work, and we have lots of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment).

647 Votes

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What is your least favorite part of your job?

Asked by Hily over 7 years ago

Being on call and having to leave dinner or get up in the middle of the night to go to a crime scene. And having to schedule vacations and events around whether I can get someone else to cover my call for me.

646 Votes

Do you think physical evidence has increased in importance over the last several decades, with advancements in technology and testing procedures? Why or why not?

Asked by Ar over 7 years ago

Physical evidence was always extremely important. What has changed with technology is what types of evidence are more commonly examined. It used to be hairs and pollen and now it's touch DNA and cell phones.

646 Votes

How long will latent prints last when ninhydrin is used?

Asked by Krissy over 6 years ago

I'm not sure what you mean: a) how long after a print is left will ninhydrin still detect it, in which case I can say from my own experiment that there's little rhyme or reason to this, sometimes older prints develop better than newer ones or vice versa, or b) how long does a print developed with ninhydrin last, and the answer to that is that ninhydrin is a dark purple dye, so it is permanent, though it will continue to develop so that the entire page may eventually turn purple so we use a fixative chemical on the now-visible print so that will stop the ninhydrin from darkening the paper further. I hope that helps!

646 Votes