Forensic Science ||-Exam 1 Serology-Study Guide-University of Southern Mississippi

Physical evidence can be collected from these three sources:

Crime scene, Victim, Suspect

What are the two areas where serological testing can be used?

Forensic science & Medical diagnostics

Define forensic serology.

The study and identification of body fluids for investigative for legal purposes.

An unused cigarette is a good source for DNA testing.

False

Two types of samples needed for forensic comparison:

Questioned (unknown) sample & Reference (known) sample

What body fluid is present in a used cigarette butt?

Saliva

Physical evidence can aid an investigation by answering:

What happened, Who was involved, Connections between people/objects/places

Two key biological evidence types to determine "who was involved":

DNA & Blood group antigens

Three possible outcomes of a lab test result:

Positive, Negative, Inconclusive

Presumptive tests for blood:

Kastle-Meyer (phenolphthalein, pink) & Hemastix (TMB, yellow → green)

Chemiluminescent presumptive blood test:

Luminol

A presumptive test can prove the presence of a body fluid.

False

Hemastix test strip will give positive with animal blood.

True

Luminol is an example of a catalytic color test.

False (it's chemiluminescent)

Blood type A has what antigen and what antibody?

A antigen on RBCs, Anti-B antibody in plasma

Confirmatory test for blood:

Takayama crystal test (pink feather-shaped crystals)

Chemicals in Takayama reagent:

Pyridine, Sodium hydroxide, Glucose, Distilled water

Takayama reagent will react with animal blood.

True

The presence of hemoglobin indicates human origin.

False

The Abacard test kit is based on antigen-antibody reaction.

True

Two species identification tests:

Precipitin ring test & Ouchterlony double diffusion test

Ouchterlony test is an example of what type of identification test?

Species identification test

What is located on the surface of red blood cells?

Antigens

High level of acid phosphatase is found in:

Semen

Using ALS, only semen will fluoresce.

False

SANE stands for:

Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner

Alternate way to test for acid phosphatase on large evidence:

AP Mapping

The presence of __________ proves seminal material.

Spermatozoa

Normal semen contains how many sperm/mL?

~100 million

Red stain used for sperm head:

Nuclear Fast Red (Christmas Tree stain)

Acid phosphatase test is a presumptive test for saliva.

False

What color indicates a positive acid phosphatase reaction?

Purple

Anterior opaque part of spermatozoa:

Acrosome

Energy for sperm motility comes from:

Mitochondria in midpiece

Individuals with few spermatozoa are called:

Oligospermic

Males with no spermatozoa are called:

Azoospermic

Two key characteristics to identify spermatozoa:

Head shape & Tail presence

Structure of spermatozoa:

Head (nucleus), Acrosome, Midpiece (mitochondria), Tail

PSA stands for:

Prostate-Specific Antigen

Enzyme found in high concentration in saliva:

Amylase

Large amounts of amylase are found in:

Saliva

Amylase hydrolyzes starch.

True

The clear circular area in the radial diffusion test for saliva indicates the presence of

________________________ and absence of _______________

amylase; starch

In the radial diffusion test for saliva, the iodine stains agarose

True