This article discusses “omic”-based methods for fluid identification, which are a response to forensic investigators’ expressed need for body fluid identification technologies that can identify fluids more accurately and with more sensitivity than traditional immunoassay methods can; it discusses emerging “omic”-based approaches, procedure standardization and sample testing, and their implications for criminal justice.
Crime scenes, particularly those involving violence, often yield evidence from bodily fluids – blood, saliva, urine, semen – left behind. However, discerning the composition and source of the fluids in more complicated than one might think, particularly when several sources are mixed together. If forensic scientists can identify a fluid’s source, they might gain critical information about a person’s involvement with a crime and what happened. In recent years, forensic investigators expressed the need for body fluid identification technologies that identify fluids more accurately and with greater sensitivity than traditional immunoassay methods. Fortunately, several new methods have been introduced that meet this demand. Collectively referred to as “omic”-based methods, they are now available for fluid identification purposes. National Institute of Justice-funded researchers recently released the results of a study designed to compare the specificity and sensitivity of these “omic”-based methods.
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