Hair morphology Michael Choo Period 2

DNA DNA is a popular subject on many courtroom dramas and TV shows such as CSI. Even though the hair strand itself contains DNA information that would useful, the thing that forensic scientists look for the most is the follicle(the small piece of skin) that is attached to the hair. Scientists can get an enormous amount of data from a single strand of hair because of that.

Forensics & Hair DNA from hair is just as reliable as DNA gathered from any other areas of the body. Many times when a police unit investigates the crime scene for evidences, they find very little. But chances are that there has been a hair or two left behind by the criminal. And these strands of hair could be a vital evidence to use against the suspect in the court later.

Animal Hair vs Human Hair Animal Hair and Human Hair are very similar but they are different enough for a forensics team to distinguish. The main difference the forensic scientists look for is the length of the hair. Animal hair falls out and is replaced by a new hair when it reaches a certain length. But human hair grows limitlessly and has to be cut in order to maintain length.

Distinguishing hair Animal hair is indistinct, which means hair from two different animals of the same breed have no distinct difference and cannot be used to identify an individual. The individual genetic information of an animal can only be accessed if the hair follicle is still attached to the root of the hair. Also because it must provide protection from cold weather and rain, the hair on many animals is thicker than human hair.

Identifying the hair Although these physical aspects of the hair would help identify human hair from animal’s, they can simply test the DNA pattern on the hair which will simply tell the researcher what species the hair came from.

Hair as Evidence Hair can be used as evidence in many of the court cases not only in murder cases, but also in civil cases such as drug abuse. When you take drugs, most of them leave the body through urine in a few days or weeks, however with a hair sample, the history of drugs is stored in the hair shaft itself and can be identified for much longer.

Questions What is the coat on a hair that covers 1/3 of the width of a strand of hair? Compare the characteristics of melanin in human and animal hair. Why do scientists rely more on hair than urine when testing for drug abuse? Testing to track family histories and inherited diseases is called ___ test? T or F. Does an animal hair have the enough distinct difference to identify individuals from that breed? Describe how the hair from an animal grow.

Links for Questions http://www.ehow.com/about_5317291_human-hair-vs-animal-hair.html medulla http://www.ehow.com/about_5317291_human-hair-vs-animal-hair.html compare http://www.dna-testing-aid.com/hair-dna.html lasts longer than urine http://www.dna-testing-aid.com/hair-dna.html paternity http://www.ehow.com/facts_6934470_compare-animal-human-hair.html No http://www.ehow.com/facts_6934470_compare-animal-human-hair.html when it reaches a certain point it falls out and regrows

Nevada State Gaming Commission vs.. Binion Under its jurisdiction as licenser of all gaming establishments in the State of Nevada, the Board suspended Binion’s gaming license and ordered him to undergo quarterly hair tests for drugs of abuse. And Binion was to adhere to a number of random hair tests to test for drug. Using hair to test for drug positive, the Board came up with negative results from Binion until the end of the year when several tests produced positive results. The Nevada Gaming Commission ultimately continued to suspended Binion from gambling. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Binion http://www.omegalabs.net/media/documents/pdf/Cases-7-03-net.pdf

Bibliography http://www.ehow.com/facts_6934470_compare-animal-human-hair.html http://www.dna-testing-aid.com/hair-dna.html http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/09/18/48hours/main6880293_page2.shtml http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/forensics.shtml