Ask a Forensic Scientist anything

989 Questions

Last Answer on July 21, 2022

Is your average criminal usually as dull as the media makes them out to me. Like multiple offenders and low level gangsters.

Asked by 782346 over 6 years ago

I may not be the best to ask since I'm not really on the front lines, I come in after the action is over, but in my opinion, yes. You don't get criminal masterminds in real life.

546 Votes

Why do some think that these forms are chat rooms?

Asked by Donaldsonerson almost 6 years ago

I don’t know what you mean by that.

546 Votes

So you wanna be a Forensic Scientist?

Check our Jobstr's career page for salary information, educational requirements, suggested reading and more!

Oh, also how can you tell if someone makes a new account?

Asked by Sam over 5 years ago

I don’t know.

546 Votes

Is there any police and crime shows, movies, books, e.c.t that show what it is really like?

Asked by Daniel over 6 years ago

Huh, that's a good question. I hope my books show what it's really like, except, of course, that my protagonist spends much more time out of the lab than in it, which is not at all realistic.

The non-fiction TV shows and books show reality, however, you have to remember that they're presenting cases that most investigators may come across once or twice in a lifetime.

Fiction shows, like "CSI" in which they have computerized databases of every substance in the world including toothpaste and wall paint, or ones in which female pathologists wear cocktail dresses to work. are definitely not realistic at all.

546 Votes

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How long will latent prints last when ninhydrin is used?

Asked by Krissy about 6 years ago

I'm not sure what you mean: a) how long after a print is left will ninhydrin still detect it, in which case I can say from my own experiment that there's little rhyme or reason to this, sometimes older prints develop better than newer ones or vice versa, or b) how long does a print developed with ninhydrin last, and the answer to that is that ninhydrin is a dark purple dye, so it is permanent, though it will continue to develop so that the entire page may eventually turn purple so we use a fixative chemical on the now-visible print so that will stop the ninhydrin from darkening the paper further. I hope that helps!

545 Votes

if a person licks their fingers in order to aid them in counting money, counts the money and hands ti to another individual who places that money in their bra. Can there be saliva dna transfer to the breast?

Asked by angie over 6 years ago

I suppose that’s theoretically possible, but I wouldn’t think it likely. The saliva would sink into the paper of the money quickly, and then when swabbing the person’s skin you’d have to happen on the exact spot where that tiny bit of saliva transferred to.

I hope that helps!

544 Votes