The effect of substrates and time of deposition on molecular analysis of fly artifacts

The activity of animals and insects at the crime scene can provide useful elements to reconstruct the dynamics of the event. Any insect that interacts with wet body fluids can produce artifacts which can be confused with human bloodstains. Considering that flies are the early colonizers of the crime scene and first players of the process of contamination, the problem is to distinguish stains produced by fly regurgitation or fecal elimination on a crime scene. Actually, fly artifacts are morphologically very similar to impact, projected, sneezed, and expirated bloodstains and cannot be reliably distinguished using presumptive or confirmatory tests for identification of human blood.
Source: Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series - Category: Forensic Medicine Authors: Source Type: research