Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science (8th Edition, High School Version)

By: Richard Saferstein

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Synopsis: In this new edition of Criminalistics, the noted forensic scientist Richard Saferstein brings the reader into the crime lab for a firsthand look at the role of science in the criminal justice system. Criminalistics focuses its attention on the up-to-date technologies police rely on to apprehend criminal perpetrators and to link them through trace evidence to crime scenes. This new edition emphasizes the latest DNA profiling technologies, which include STR and mitochondrial DNA. The book details how the creation of a new nationwide DNA data bank has been designed to apprehend the mobile criminal. Today, the ability to detect less than one-billionth of a gram of DNA means that forensic scientists can extract critical information at crime scenes from stamps and envelopes licked with saliva, a cup or can that has come in contact with a person's lips, chewing gum, the sweat band of a hat, or a bed sheet containing an individual's skin cells.