Mumford 1

Ashlyn Mumford
Mrs. DeBock
English 4
24 September 2015
Research Question: How has forensic science changed over time?
Working Thesis Statement: Modern technology has changed the way investigators use fingerprinting.
Refined Thesis Statement: Modern technology has changed the way investigator use fingerprinting, dust
bunnies, hair bacteria, and body odor.
Annotated Bibliography
Oaklander, Mandy. "A Strange New Way To Solve Crimes." Time 186.8 (2015): 44. Middle Search Plus.
Web. 22 Sept. 2015e
Mandy Oaklander reveals in her article how bacteria found on the human body could be
the new technique into solving many crimes. Mandy discusses how each individual has their own
distinctive bacterial signature known as microbiome. Unlike DNA evidence, it can be arranged affordably,
quickly and with more accuracy. Due to the advances of technology to analyze microbial communities,
we can gather microbes without growing them in a lab. However, there are arguments that microbial
sample could reveal too much personal information about a suspect. Therefore, making it too sensitive to
put in to a database.

According to the article, in the near future if someone commits a crime they may

have their microbiome collected and database. Scientists are finding significant links by matching a
bacteria of one person against the database of others. Therefore, within the next six to ten

Mumford 2
years cops will be swabbing for bacteria to use during their investigations. The article is a great reference
because it gave details of new ways to use forensic science techniques.

Rosen, Meghan. "WANTED: Crime-Solving Bacteria And Body Odor." Science News 188.5 (2015):
22. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 22 Sept. 2015
Meghan Rosen describes how new methods may improve credibility of forensic science. She
discusses about hair bacteria which could be a link between criminals and bodily debris they left behind.
Bacteria can also be hidden in fragments of dust, this helps scientist place suspects at the scene of crime.
Hints that a person could leave behind is fingerprints, blood spatters, handwriting, DNA, hair and more.
In the article, not all forensic science procedures are created equal. Fingerprints alone dont really show a
lot of data. Rosen reflects on the case on Brando Mayfield spending two years in jail before the police
could match another persons fingerprint to the crime. Due to government had to pay the Mayfield $2
million. Fingerprints and other forensic analyses can be chances and no one really has a good handle on
how to calculate them. In addition, the article tell how body odor cold be a new clue in the prosecution of
criminals. As a result, forensic scientist would not have to rely mostly on examiner opinions. With these
new methods, forensic scientist should be able to gradually improve the problems they faced with prior
forensic analysis. This article will be useful because it covered mostly all techniques used in forensic
science and how they would be improved in the near future.

"Strengthening forensic science in the United States; a path forward." Reference & Research Book
News 2009:Academic OneFile. Web. 23 Sept. 2015

Mumford 3
David Foran and Alyssa Badgley explain the results of the study that was mandated by Congress
to investigate the strengths and weakness of forensic science in the United States. In 2005, The National
Academy of Sciences (NAS) was hired by Congress to complete the study. The evaluation committee
included a variety of experts in the forensic science, statistics and legal professions. In 2009, the
committee released the report Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward.
According to the authors, the report identified several areas in forensic science that could use
improvements. Some of these areas were creating a structured entity that would provide oversight,
mandate accreditation and separate it from law enforcement agencies. Other areas were to implement a
model standard procedures that would apply to all crime labs, provide resources and funding needs,
improve educational requirements of staff, implement a code of ethics and lastly make improvements to
computer software to make results more reliable and nationwide to aid in solving crimes across the
nation. As expected, the report did receive criticism such as the committee was too focused on a unified
system and no forensic scientists were included on the committee. Even though these criticism were
received, progress towards an improved system has been made by the efforts of an alliance of various
organizations. One of these developments is the implementation of the Next Generation Identification in
2013 which is a biometric system other than just fingerprints it includes facial and iris recognition. The
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has also developed standard reference material for
forensic procedures such as DNA analysis, toxicology and controlled substances. Finally, Forensic
Science Programs are receiving funding for accredited educational programs. This article was chosen
because it discussed how the federal government got involved to help improve the techniques used by all
forensic scientist nationally.