Murder Mile Walks and True-Crime Podcast - one of the best "quirky, curious and unusual things to do in London" this weekend
  • HOME
  • TICKETS
    • GIFT VOUCHERS
    • CORPORATE TOURS
  • MEET HERE
  • REVIEWS
  • Q&A
    • PHOTOS
  • Shop
  • PODCAST
    • About the Host
    • About the Music
    • About the Sound
    • About the Research
    • Legal Disclaimer
  • Contact
  • Blog

Human Hair: What can a single strand of human hair tell Crime Scene Investigators / Pathologists?

20/12/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Nominated BEST TRUE-CRIME PODCAST at British Podcast Awards 2018, The Telegraph's Top Five True-Crime Podcasts, The Guardian's Podcast of the Week and iTunes Top 25. Subscribe via iTunes, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher and all podcast platforms.
Picture
What can a single strand of human hair tell crime scene investigators and pathologists?

We’ve all seen it; a cop pulls out a pen, uses it to pick up a single strand of hair, pops that hair into an empty crisp packet, takes it to be boys down the crime lab and boom, the victim is identified. But is that possible, can you get a complete DNA match of a victim or perpetrator from a single thread of human hair?

No. You can’t.

Currently, it is not possible to identify a person by a single strand of hair, although it is a vital piece of evidence in any enquiry. You can learn a lot from a single strand of human hair, as (unless it’s cut) a human hair normally grows for up to two to six years before it falls out, so you can determine some details: what racial group a person is from (whether European, Asian or African), their hair colour (whether natural or dyed), what chemicals, toxins or heavy metals they’ve been exposed to, the types of foods they eat, possible diseases, genetic disorders, health issues, and if they smoke, drink or do drugs. Gulp! If you’re worried… the drugs which can be tested includes cannabis, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, methamphetamines, benzodiazepines, methadone, ketamine, most prescription drugs, antidepressants, neuroleptics, steroids and GHB, all from a single strand of hair. And while a urine test will reveal if you’ve used drugs in the last several days, hair testing (depending on the sample) can show if you’ve used drugs over the past 3 months.

On average, a person sheds 100-150 strands of hair a day, and although the hair shaft contains some mitochondrial DNA – this DNA is easily degraded by bacteria, fungi, ultraviolet light, bleaches, dyes and the weather, rendering it useless for testing – but it’s actually the root pulp at the end of the shaft which contains the nDNA (nuclear DNA), which is vital for identifying a person. Sadly, the hairs we shed, do not contain root pulp, but they do if they are yanked out in a violent struggle.

The problem is that even this nDNA found in the hair’s root quickly degrades when exposed to light, moisture or heat, making it almost useless (but not entirely useless) for identification, so the best hair strands for DNA testing are those pulled directly from the victim or perpetrators’ head with the root pulp still attached, prior to testing, and in order for the laboratory to accurately determine a person’s identity, they wouldn’t need one single hair, they would need at least one hundred.

So, the next time you see a TV detective picking up a single eye-lash with their tweezers and getting a match to a known felon within an hour, call “bulls**t”, and check the DVD extras to see if there’s an additional scene where he spends fifty-two days on his hands and knees, scouring the floor for ninety-nine more and praying the felon has a genetic disorder, so unique, they named a disease after him.

So why am I bald? Nature’s been cruel to me, that’s all.

If you found this interesting? Check out the Mini Mile episodes of the Murder Mile UK True-Crime Podcast, or click on the link below to listen to an episode.
Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime  podcasts at the British Podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a crime writer, podcaster & tour guide of Murder Mile Walks, hailed as one of the best "quirky curious & unusual things to do in London". 

    Become a Patron!
    Picture


    Picture
    Subscribe to the Murder Mile true-crime podcast

    Categories

    All
    Adverts
    Assassinations
    Awards
    Canalkillers
    Celebrities
    Curious-stuff
    Deadly-families
    Execution Sites
    Forgotten Disasters
    Head Injuries
    Killer Interviews
    Killer Profiles
    Killer's Books
    Killers By Age
    Killers By Birthday
    Killers By Birth Name
    Killers By County
    Killers By Diet
    Killers By Drink
    Killers By Height
    Killers By IQ
    Killers By Job
    Killers By Lunar Cycle
    Killers By Marriage
    Killers By Motive
    Killers By Music
    Killers By Nickname
    Killers By Star Sign
    Killers By Weight
    Killers = Dead Or Alive?
    Killer's Kids
    Killers Last Meals
    Killers Last Words
    Killers Mothers
    Killers Not Caught
    Killers On TV
    Killers & Pets
    Killer's Religion
    Local History
    Mass Graves
    Murder
    Murder Mile
    Podcast
    Poisoners
    Q & A
    Serial Killers
    Soho Murders
    The Dangers Of Booze
    The Innocent
    The Law

    Note: This blog contains only licence-free images or photos shot by myself in compliance with UK & EU copyright laws. If any image breaches these laws, blame Google Images. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

BUSINESS ADDRESS

ABOUT MURDER MILE WALKS

(c) Murder Mile Walks, P O Box 83
15 Ingestre Place, Soho, W1F 0JH
Murder Mile Walks is a true-crime podcast and guided walk of Soho's most notorious murders, hailed as one of the best "quirky, curious and unusual things to do in London", rated five stars and nominated one of the Best British True-Crime Podcasts of 2018
  • HOME
  • TICKETS
    • GIFT VOUCHERS
    • CORPORATE TOURS
  • MEET HERE
  • REVIEWS
  • Q&A
    • PHOTOS
  • Shop
  • PODCAST
    • About the Host
    • About the Music
    • About the Sound
    • About the Research
    • Legal Disclaimer
  • Contact
  • Blog