Essential Forensic Biology

by Gunn, Alan

• ISBN13: 9780470758038
• ISBN10: 0470758031
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-03-16
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

This book is an introduction to the application of biology in legal investigations. Fully revised and updated throughout, the second edition of this highly successful textbook offers an accessible overview to the essentials of the subject providing a balanced coverage of the range of organisms used as evidence in forensic investigations; invertebrates, vertebrates, plants and microbes.The book provides an overview of the decay process and discusses the role of forensic indicators - human fluids and tissues, including blood cells, bloodstain pattern analysis, hair, teeth, bones, and wounds. It also examines the study of forensic biology in cases of suspicious death.The coverage of molecular techniques has been expanded throughout with additional material on bioterrorism and wildlife forensics now included. The use of DNA and RNA for the identification of individuals and their personal characteristics is now covered along with a discussion of the ethical issues associated with the maintenance of DNA databases.- Fully revised and updated new edition of this highly successful textbook.- Includes self-assessment questions at the end of each chapter and case studies.- Now in full colour throughout.- Includes a supplementary website (www.wileyeurope.com/college/gunn) covering additional material and self-test questions to reinforce student understanding.From the reviews of the first edition:"The author does an excellent job of demonstrating how biological science can, and does, contribute to legal investigations..." THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY"...a super book ...not a book that will languish on library shelves. Buy it!" JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL EDUCATION"...naturalists and biologists will find much of interest within these books...new light on the application of their own specialism..." THE NATURALIST"Overall, I give it my highest recommendation. I was unable to find a single paragraph that was no fascinating, despite being sad or gruesome at times." E-STREAMS

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Human Remains: Decay, DNA, Tissues and Fluids	p. 9
The decay, discovery and recovery of human bodies	p. 11
The dead body	p. 11
The stages of decomposition	p. 12
Factors affecting the speed of decay	p. 28
Discovery and recovery of human remains	p. 35
Determining the age and provenance of skeletonized remains	p. 39
Future developments	p. 41
Body fluids and waste products	p. 45
Blood Cells and blood typing	p. 45
Methods for detecting blood	p. 48
Confirming the presence of blood	p. 51
Bloodstain pattern analysis	p. 51
Artificial blood	p. 70
Post mortem toxicological analysis of blood	p. 71
Saliva and semen	p. 72
Vitreous humor	p. 75
Faeces and urine as forensic indicators	p. 77
Future directions	p. 82
Molecular biology	p. 85
The structure of DNA	p. 86
DNA sampling	p. 87
DNA profiling	p. 88
Polymerase chain reaction	p. 92
Short tandem repeat markers	p. 97
Single nucleotide polymorphism markers	p. 107
Determination of ethnicity	p. 108
Determination of physical appearance	p. 109
Determination of personality traits	p. 110
Mobile element insertion polymorphisms	p. 110
Mitochondrial DNA	p. 112
RNA	p. 115
DNA databases	p. 116
Future developments	p. 120
Human tissues	p. 123
The outer body surface	p. 123
Hair	p. 138
Bones	p. 142
Teeth	p. 151
Future developments	p. 159
Wounds	p. 163
Definitions	p. 163
Blunt force injuries	p. 165
Sharp force traumas	p. 172
Bone damage	p. 180
Additional aspects of wound interpretation	p. 183
Asphyxia	p. 184
Pathology associated with drug use	p. 190
Gunshot wounds	p. 192
Bite marks	p. 200
Burns and scalds	p. 203
Ageing of wounds	p. 205
Post mortem injuries	p. 207
Future developments	p. 209
Invertebrates and Vertebrates	p. 211
Invertebrates 1: biological aspects	p. 213
An introduction to invertebrate biology	p. 213
Invertebrates as forensic indicators in cases of murder of suspicious death	p. 214
Invertebrates as a cause of death	p. 238
Invertebrates as forensic indicators in cases of neglect and animal welfare	p. 241
The role of invertebrates in food spoilage and hygiene litigation	p. 243
The illegal trade in invertebrates	p. 246
Invertebrate identification techniques	p. 247
Future directions	p. 250
Invertebrates 2: practical aspects	p. 253
Calculating the PMI/time since infestation from invertebrate development rates	p. 254
Complicating factors affecting earliest oviposition date calculations	p. 260
Determination of the PMI using invertebrate species composition	p. 266
Determination of the PMI using ectoparasites	p. 267
Determination of movement from invertebrate evidence	p. 267
Invertebrate evidence in cases of wound myiasis and neglect	p. 269
Detection of drugs, toxins and other chemicals in invertebrates	p. 271
Obtaining human/vertebrate DNA evidence from invertebrates	p. 271
Determining the source and duration of invertebrate infestations of food products	p. 272
Collecting invertebrates for forensic analysis	p. 273
Killing and preserving techniques for invertebrates	p. 276
Future directions	p. 279
Vertebrates	p. 283
Introduction	p. 284
Vertebrate scavenging of human corpses	p. 284
Vertebrates causing death and injury	p. 291
Neglect and abuse of vertebrates	p. 292
Vertebrates and drugs	p. 293
Vertebrates and food hygiene	p. 295
Illegal trade and killing of protected species of vertebrates	p. 295
Identification of vertebrates	p. 298
Future directions	p. 309
Protists, Fungi, Plants and Microbes	p. 313
Protists, fungi and plants	p. 315
Introduction	p. 316
Protists	p. 316
Fungi	p. 321
Plants	p. 324
Plant secondary metabolites as sources of drugs and poisons	p. 347
Illegal trade in protected plant species	p. 351
Future directions	p. 353
Bacteria and viruses	p. 355
Introduction	p. 355
The role of microorganisms in the decomposition process	p. 356
Microbial profiles as identification tools	p. 357
Microbial infections and human behaviour	p. 370
Microbial infections that can be mistaken for signs of criminal activity	p. 372
The use of microorganisms in bioterrorism	p. 373
Future directions	p. 390
References	p. 393
Index	p. 417
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