-
Asked by to Anna, Elaine, Fiona, Kevin, Darren on 13 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
-
Elaine Cloutman-Green answered on 13 Jun 2014:
This isn’t my area but I think the development of forensics as a science has transformed the way the criminal system works. It used to be based on opinion rather than trying to gather facts and that was open to a lot of abuse. Forensic science has also led to lots of developments in other fields of science, like some of the DNA based work I do.
That said like any science if not performed correctly it can give the wrong answers and so the scientist who carry out the tests need to be really careful.
-
-
Kevin O'Dell answered on 14 Jun 2014:
As Elaine said earlier, forensic science, particularly the DNA work that Sir Alec Jeffreys pioneered in the 1980s, has revolutionised crime-solving in the UK and beyond. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet Alec a few times and he is an extraordinarily friendly and approachable guy. He’s just retired from his job at the University of Leicester.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Alec’s role, you might want to get hold of a copy of ‘The Blooding’ by Joseph Wambaugh.
As you probably know Alec Jeffreys stumbled across DNA profiling quite by accident. He was an evolutionary geneticist interested in variation in the globin genes (globins are the oxygen-carrying molecules). One day he had a really strange result, and whilst most of us would just have assumed we’d made a mistake in preparing our DNA sample, he actually studied the odd result further and realised that he’d found an extraordinarily variable piece of DNA. It was a remarkable discovery that he deserves huge credit for!
-
Zhiming Darren Tan answered on 15 Jun 2014:
Like in CSI? It’s awesome! The science here is a tool that gives evidence, and there must be enough “literacy” for the evidence to be interpret meaningfully.
-
Fiona McLean answered on 16 Jun 2014:
I think Forensic Science is great. It makes it easier to catch the right person for a crime. One of the other huge benefits is because science is undeniable it means that more criminals plead guilty. This means victims don’t need to go into the court which can be a really upsetting experience for them. Sometimes scientists actually have to go into court to explain evidence (such as evidence from bones). You do need a good team of forensic scientists though! Can you imagine if they accidentally contaminated evidence?! Then they could get blamed for the crime!
Comments