About Forensic Pathology
Things have come a long way in forensics. Today it is not as easy to get away with murder as it was even a few years ago. With the strides that have been made in forensic pathology not only can we catch the killers but we have been able to study the different effects of certain injuries on the body. It may be sort of gruesome to some but to others it is fascinating.
Significance
Forensics is basically finding out what happened to a dead body. It is used to list the cause of death in obituaries and more importantly to aid in finding out who killed who in a murder investigation. With things like the microscope, DNA, blood typing and cameras to help them along forensic pathologist are helping to solve murders and other such crimes every day, something that wasn’t possible years ago.
Misconceptions
There are many misconceptions about how the human body takes injury and perishes. The hugest misconception is that murder is quick, clean and easy. Nothing could be further from the truth. The body in fact clings to life as long as possible. Many people have sustained horrible injuries and survived. Another misconception is that a person can be incapacitated by one punch or a single dose of arsenic. The body is more resilient than that. However, when the body does finally give up a dedicated team of forensic specialist is capable of finding out in just what manner it happened.
Nothing but the Facts
There are a few facts that make forensics highly effective.
- Everyone has a unique set of fingerprints.
- Everyone has his or her own unique DNA.
- Blood more often than not stays on clothing and weapons no matter how many times they are washed.
- Poisons and arson are both easy to trace
- The time of death can be calculated down to a very small window.
- Conducting a forensics investigation is very time consuming.
- It is next to impossible to commit a crime without leaving some kind of evidence behind.