LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
Because fingerprints, tire tracks, footwear impressions and sometimes handwriting can, with sufficient individual characteristics, be identified to a specific person or item. (Glass can as well in the case of a 'jigsaw' match, when it physically fits into a piece of evidence.) These analyses require human attention and thorough training and competency and are not quite as simply done as adding a blood sample to a thermocycler for DNA analysis. Explaining DNA analysis takes a highly trained analyst but the actual process is largely automated.
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Take as many science and then math courses as you can.
Best of luck!
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I'm sorry but I've never worked in toxicology.
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Sure, I'll email you.
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Casino Marketer
What would be some less obvious ways someone could save money on a Vegas trip?
Air Traffic Controller
Have you ever ordered a pilot to abort mid-takeoff?
Las Vegas Cab Driver
Do people ever ask you to keep your meter off in exchange for a cheaper fare?
Good question. If the surface isn't disturbed and the temperature and humidity are cool and steady, I know fingerprints can last indefinitely, so I suppose skin cells would last as well.
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Bleach will also destroy DNA but of course that may damage items. Soap and water will do.
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That’s hard to say. It depends not only on how old the stain is but how old or how sensitive the reagents are. I’ve had old known semen stains not react with relatively new reagents so it is possible.
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