April ND Dennis

type and characteristic of blood, blood testing,
bloodstain examination, and preparation of

testimony or presentations at trial are the main job
functions of a forensic serologist, who also analyzes
semen, saliva, other body fluids and may or not be
involved with DNA typing.
Before doing anything, the crime scene investigators must take some
precautions in order to avoid both biohazard to themselves and sample
corruption. In his Physical Evidence in Forensic Science, Henry Lee
suggests the following:
1.Wear latex gloves, surgical masks, and full coverage gowns.
2.Eye-coverings are needed for collecting liquid samples.
3.Keep hands out of areas that are hidden.
4.Label all blood samples.
5.Package dry samples in bags, as well as stained clothing.
6.Add a note of precaution if biohazards like AIDS or hepatitis are
suspected
7.Decontaminate all nondisposable items.
8.Destroy tags, forms, or reports splashed with blood.
9.Clean up hands with diluted bleach, and dispose of contaminated
clothing.
Presumptive tests:
The first test is simply the use of a powerful light moved
across every surface of a crime scene. That yields possible
traces for visual inspection.
If nothing is seen, but there is reason to suspect blood had
been present, a chemical called luminol is sprayed across the
scene because it reacts to blood by making it luminescent. It
only takes about five seconds. The procedure requires that
the room be considerably darkened in order to see the faint
bluish glow, and the intensity of the glow increases
proportionately to the amount of blood present. It works even
with old blood or diluted stains, and can illuminate smear
marks where blood has been wiped away. However, there is
one problem with this test: luminol can destroy the properties
of the blood that investigators need for further testing. Its use
is limited to proving that blood is present even if not visible.
From there, investigators use the precipitin test to determine
whether the blood is of animal or human origin. German
biologist Paul Uhlenhuth discovered that if he injected
protein from a chicken egg into a rabbit, and then mixed
serum from the rabbit with egg white, the egg proteins
separated from the liquid to form a cloudy substance known
precipitin. In other words, it forms an antibody. In as the

forensic test for human blood, either a sample of the suspect
blood is put into a test tube over the rabbit serum or it's used
in the "gel diffusion" test, where it's placed in gel on a glass
slide next to a sample of the reagent (anti-human serum).
Passing an electric current through the glass, the protein
molecules filter into the gelatin and toward each other. If a
line forms where they meet---called a precipitin line---that
means the sample is human blood.
When a darkish substance is found at a crime scene, it must first be
determined to be blood. There are several tests—presumptive tests used
strictly for screening---that will differentiate between blood and other
substances, but if other chemicals are present at the scene to which the
test chemicals are sensitive, the tests may be vulnerable to corruption.
For that reason, these tests are done with great care. A positive result
from any of them is an indication to go ahead and use other tests to
confirm.
Sometimes microcrystalline tests are also
performed. The two most often used are the
Takayama and Teichmann tests. Both add specific
chemicals to the blood to make it form crystals with
hemoglobin derivatives. These tests are also
sensitive to other materials that may be present in a
bloodstain.
Blood pattern analysis plays an important role in the reconstruction of
many crime scenes. For example, when a prominent Cincinnati
physician appeared to be the victim of an apparent suicide, the spatter
pattern on his hand and on the couch on which he lay told a story of
murder instead. The various types of bloodstains indicate how the blood
was projected from the body via several factors:
1.Type of injuries
2.The order in which the wounds were received
3.Whose blood is present
4.The type of weapon that caused the injuries
5.Whether the victim was in motion or lying still when the injury was
inflicted
6.Whether the victim was moved after the injury was inflicted
7.How far the blood drops fell before hitting the surface where they
were found.
Blood may be dripped out, sprayed from an artery, oozed out through a
large wound, or flung off a weapon raised to strike another blow.

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April ND Dennis

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type and characteristic of blood, blood testing,

bloodstain examination, and preparation of

precipitin. In other words, it forms an antibody. In as the

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