NCJ Number
218681
Date Published
January 2004
Length
50 pages
Annotation
This report is intended as a practical guide introducing hair evidence to the forensic examiner and providing a foundation for its proper identification and comparison utilizing the microscope and DNA technologies.
Abstract
The first step necessary in the analytical process, after hair evidence is recovered is the identification and comparison of human and animal hairs. The ability to analyze and interpret hair characteristics is a skill gained by training and testing. Examiners must study hair samples from different racial groups and body areas and take hair-matching samples tests to demonstrate the ability to correctly associate hairs with a particular source. This report is a revision of the 1977 Microscopy of Hairs: A Practical Guide and Manual. It is a guide and manual for examiners on hair evidence through various methods, specifically the traditional comparison microscope method (microscopic characteristics found in hair) and the new nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (M+DNA) method. The manual begins with a review of the hair’s basic structure and continues with comprehensive information on hair identification, methods of hair recovery, scale carts, sampling methods, glass microscope slide preparation, and human hair identification. Figures, glossary and references