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Forensic Science and It’s Specific Fields
First off, the term ‘Forensic’ basically means; Having to do with the law. Today’s day in age with as much crime and murders that are going on, we have to rely on more than just private investigators to solve cases for us. Instead we have an entire system which is dedicated to investigating and using the large amount of technology that we have to solve murders and other crimes. This system is called Forensics and it is composed of a series of sub-sections that deal with certain things since Forensics in general is too vast of a subject to be left as one category. Some of the sub-category’s are; DNA Analysis, Death Investigation, Toxicology, Pathology, Forensic Engineering, Odontology, Document Examination, and Fingerprint identification. Some of the fields that I am about to tell you about are pretty much self-explanatory but I will explain them anyways.
DNA Analysis
One of the sub-sections of Forensic Science is DNA Analysis. This is one of the category’s that are obviously self explanatory as to what they do, They Analyze DNA Since no ones DNA is EXACTLY the same, the people who work in this department work to examine any and all DNA that may come into an investigation. Some types of DNA that they might have to investigate are things like; hair, blood, nail clippings, saliva, and even some bodily fluids like sperm and semen. One method that can be used to compare a known DNA Sample to an Unknown sample, or vice-versa, is Chromosomal Analysis. With Chromosomal Analysis scientists can take a sample of DNA from someone and with high powered microscopes look at the individual chromosomes. Since most everyone is born with 23 pairs of chromosomes (unless they are born with some kind of a dieses, then they can be missing one or more of those chromosomes and or have a deformed chromosome) scientists can take a close look at two sets of chromosomes (Known and an unknown) and compare them by drenching the chromosomes in a dye that dyes a certain chemical in the chromosomes a dark black color so they can tell the difference between the two. Another way of testing DNA is by taking a sample of DNA and putting a certain gel in the sample and sending a small electrical charge through this gel which causes the DNA to line up in a nice order for you to compare to another sample that you did the same thing to. If they match, then you have successfully compared a known DNA sample to an unknown DNA sample and found out they are the same.
Death Investigation
Death Investigation is usually done by the Coroner or the Medical Examiner. Obviously once again, the title speaks for itself when someone says I work in the Death Investigation department it should click in your head that they Investigate deaths! One of the major way’s to determine someone or something’s death is to examine the corpse inside and outside, this is called an autopsy. Some deaths may be apparent, like a gunshot wound to the head at point blank range and the coroner may not order the death be investigated therefore not needing an autopsy. But if the body is in-tact with no major wounds that would cause death then the coroner would want to do an autopsy to figure out how it did happen. The purpose of the autopsy is to open up the body and examine things that you cannot examine just from the surface of the body. For example, if you have a dead person on your table, but all that is wrong with them is they have a deep gash in their leg and no other apparent injuries you would want to further investigate it, so you would cut them open and examine the inside of the leg. And you would most likely find out that the gash severed a major artery or vein and caused them to bleep to death. Then you have to examine the rest of the body for things like defensive wounds to see if the death was on purpose or if it was accidental.
Toxicology
Pathology
Forensic Engineering
Forensic Engineering is another section of Forensics that people can go into. Forensic Engineering has to do with investigation components that fail to do what they are supposed to do. That may not make a whole lot of sense, but if there is a death that is caused by something failing to do it’s job, then a Forensic Engineer would be dispatched to investigate the component and see what it’s malfunction was and if it could have been prevented. In most cases, they are there to see if the malfunction was accidental or a deliberate attempt to sabotage the component. Forensic Engineers can tell if something is done deliberately by studying the schematics of a component and then comparing it with the current structure of the component. For lack of a better example, if someone was climbing a ladder and while half way up it snapped in half or fell apart making the person fall and be injured or die, then the Forensic Engineer would examine the ladder to see if anyone took any screws out that are essential to the working condition of the ladder, or if they cut the ladder so it would fall apart like it did.Odontology
Odontology is another section in forensics. Odontology has to do with the investigation and the examination of teeth and bite marks. Odontologists examine bite marks and compare them to peoples or animals teeth to see where the bite mark came from. The way to do this s quite simple, all they do is take a mold of the bite mark using a type of plaster letting it harden to preserve the bite, then they examine the bite mark for certain things like a crown, or a bridge, a molar, missing teeth, crooked teeth, or anything else that can distinguish one person or things teeth against another. Usually Odontologists to not have a known sample to go with unless the police have a suspect that they need to compare to the bite mark, then they have the suspect bite into a piece of heated up plastic or rubber and hold it in until the plastic cools off keeping the mold of the teeth in-tact. They then make a mold of the bite marks and compare it to the unknown looking for similarities like crowns, bridges, etc… If they only have a bite mark, but no suspect to compare it to, they usually go to dental records which usually have a copy of your most recent teeth structure.
Document Examination
The title, Document Examination practically speaks for itself. A Document Examiner simply examines documents and signatures. The Document Examination field is actually quite broad, because it has to deal with the examination of things like signatures all the way to things like the differences in printer ink and what kind of printer was used to print a document. One of the major things that Document Examiners do is examine signatures. They compare a signature on a document to the actual signature of a person to see if the signature on the document was actually made by the person who supplied the actual signature. That probably confused you, but basically they compare signatures to ensure that they are legit. They do this by having an unknown signature that was supposedly made by a ‘Chris Gulick’ and an actual signature that was made by Chris Gulick. The document examiners would look at both of the signatures under a side-by-side microscope and look for differences and similarities in the signatures. For example, in the signature that was made by the actual Chris Gulick has an inside curve on the C and the G, but on the one they are comparing it to doesn’t, then that would be one clue to say that the other signature is a fake.
Fingerprint identification
The title Fingerprint identification speaks for itself. Like ones DNA, ones fingerprint is completely unique, there are no two fingerprints alike in the world. A fingerprint is something that is left after you touch something by the oils that are in your finger tips. The oils that are in your finger tips seep out through your skin an onto the friction ridges that are on the tips of your fingers. The friction ridges are further categorized into different sections judging by their design. For instance there are Arches, loops, and whorls. The reason we break the fingerprint category down into other sections is to be able to identify the different friction ridges that are left when you touch something. People who work in the Fingerprint Identification department are responsible for categorizing and pointing out certain points on the fingerprint that would be unique to a different finger print to clearly show that the fingerprints are different or similar.
Whatever you have seen on TV, or in non-informational books are all lies. If a Forensic Scientist (Any of the people who work in the above categories) were to leave their lab to interrogate the witness of a murder or the suspect of murder, the judge would have the scientists degree taken away and make sure he never touched another case file in his life. Despite what CSI people do, it is all a lie! Lol
If you have read through all of this I congratulate you because I am sure it was really boring..if you read through it…. But hey! What’s a guy to do to get credits?
Thanks! There was a bunch of new information in there for me too, which is always nice 
Forensic Engineering is a new one for me. I've heard of the concepts (cause they would make sense to look in when investigating), but I'd never heard of it being in its own 'branch' of Forensics or whatever. But it makes sense, so I'll have to see if I can find more about that somewhere.
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