Ask a Forensic Scientist anything

989 Questions

Last Answer on July 21, 2022

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 6 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!

498 Votes

Why do some think that these forms are chat rooms?

Asked by Donaldsonerson over 5 years ago

I don’t know what you mean by that.

497 Votes

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I bought a pair of buckskin-colored work gloves and just after one day of warring the gloves for work I put them away. Twenty years later would my DNA still be detected from inside of the pair of gloves

Asked by Hank Saxena almost 6 years ago

Possibly, I suppose. If they were swabbed thoroughly and the swabs picked up a few skin cells, then it would be within the realm of possibility.

497 Votes

Where you ever shocked by a crime scene?

Asked by Denise_ot5 about 6 years ago

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

496 Votes

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Is there any police and crime shows, movies, books, e.c.t that show what it is really like?

Asked by Daniel over 6 years ago

Huh, that's a good question. I hope my books show what it's really like, except, of course, that my protagonist spends much more time out of the lab than in it, which is not at all realistic.

The non-fiction TV shows and books show reality, however, you have to remember that they're presenting cases that most investigators may come across once or twice in a lifetime.

Fiction shows, like "CSI" in which they have computerized databases of every substance in the world including toothpaste and wall paint, or ones in which female pathologists wear cocktail dresses to work. are definitely not realistic at all.

496 Votes

What does death smell like and why? Do different people smell different?

Asked by asdf about 5 years ago

It all depends on the circumstances of the death (fire victims can have a smoke smell, of course) but mostly the degree of decomposition. That's the only thing that makes a difference, otherwise everyone is the same.

494 Votes