Senior Seminar Research Proposal
Introduction
Forensic entomology is used to determine such crimes as murder, suicide, and other criminal acts by examining various insects instead of using human tissues. This forensic tool is used to determine the postmortem interval of a corpse and the cause of death of a corpse when all other forms of human evidence (human blood, tissues, hair, etc.) are not present at the scene. Forensic entomologists prefer using insects to determine these factors of death because the insects produce similar results as human test materials such as human blood or tissues which yield the best analytical results for the forensic entomologist. The use of forensic entomological evidence has been accepted and used in many courts around the world (Anderson, 1999). The use of this tool in court can support or refute a suspect’s alibi and improves the criminal investigation against the suspect (Anderson, 1999). Even though forensic entomology is an efficient tool to use in criminal investigations there are some drawbacks to this analytical tool. Such disadvantages include improper collection of entomological evidence and improper analysis of insects after collection, resulting in incorrect entomological results and a possible false conviction of a suspect. The proposed research of this paper focused on insects being affected by different concentrations of ethanol during natural insect development and also focused on the detection of ethanol in insects using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) to determine if insects were significantly affected by ethanol exposure. The research also focused on the exposure of ethanol to the insects and how this exposure affected PMI (postmortem interval) determination. Forensic entomology is a commonly used tool to determine cause and time of death by examining various characteristics of insects that are collected at the crime scene. Such characteristics include size of the insect(s) and the life cycle stage of the insect collected. Forensic
Forensic entomology is used to determine such crimes as murder, suicide, and other criminal acts by examining various insects instead of using human tissues. This forensic tool is used to determine the postmortem interval of a corpse and the cause of death of a corpse when all other forms of human evidence (human blood, tissues, hair, etc.) are not present at the scene. Forensic entomologists prefer using insects to determine these factors of death because the insects produce similar results as human test materials such as human blood or tissues which yield the best analytical results for the forensic entomologist. The use of forensic entomological evidence has been accepted and used in many courts around the world (Anderson, 1999). The use of this tool in court can support or refute a suspect’s alibi and improves the criminal investigation against the suspect (Anderson, 1999). Even though forensic entomology is an efficient tool to use in criminal investigations there are some drawbacks to this analytical tool. Such disadvantages include improper collection of entomological evidence and improper analysis of insects after collection, resulting in incorrect entomological results and a possible false conviction of a suspect. The proposed research of this paper focused on insects being affected by different concentrations of ethanol during natural insect development and also focused on the detection of ethanol in insects using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) to determine if insects were significantly affected by ethanol exposure. The research also focused on the exposure of ethanol to the insects and how this exposure affected PMI (postmortem interval) determination. Forensic entomology is a commonly used tool to determine cause and time of death by examining various characteristics of insects that are collected at the crime scene. Such characteristics include size of the insect(s) and the life cycle stage of the insect collected. Forensic
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