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To: onyx; All

I think it MAY be weaker than the article states.

On the Male Pubic Hair, they say it yielded NO identifiable DNA - I suspect that the classification of White male attached to the Pubic Hair in the article is from looking at the hair under a microscope and saying it has similar characteristics to White Male hair.

This is far less reliable than DNA testing. It is certainly not a Match to a white male, but a consistent with by observing similar characteristics.


18 posted on 05/11/2006 12:56:47 AM PDT by OakOak
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To: OakOak

I'm sure you're right --- it's weaker than the article wants readers to believe.


27 posted on 05/11/2006 1:31:06 AM PDT by onyx (Deport the trolls --- send them back to DU)
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To: OakOak

Racial Determination
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/backissu/july2000/deedric1.htm#Racial%20Determination

A human hair can be associated with a particular racial group based on established models for each group. Forensic examiners differentiate between hairs of Caucasoid (European ancestry), Mongoloid (Asian ancestry), and Negroid (African ancestry) origin, all of which exhibit microscopic characteristics that distinguish one racial group from another. Head hairs are generally considered best for determining race, although hairs from other body areas can be useful. Racial determination from the microscopic examination of head hairs from infants, however, can be difficult, and hairs from individuals of mixed racial ancestry may possess microscopic characteristics attributed to more than one racial group.

The identification of race is most useful as an investigative tool, but it can also be an associative tool when an individual's hairs exhibit unusual racial characteristics.

Caucasoid (European)
Hairs of Caucasoid or Caucasian origin can be of fine to medium coarseness, are generally straight or wavy in appearance, and exhibit colors ranging from blonde to brown to black. The hair shafts of Caucasian hairs vary from round to oval in cross section and have fine to medium-sized, evenly distributed pigment granules.

Mongoloid (Asian)
Hairs of Mongoloid or Asian origin are regularly coarse, straight, and circular in cross section, with a wider diameter than the hairs of the other racial groups. The outer layer of the hair, the cuticle, is usually significantly thicker than the cuticle of Negroid and Caucasian hairs, and the medulla, or central canal, is continuous and wide. The hair shaft, or cortex, of Mongoloid hair contains pigment granules that are generally larger in size than the pigment granules of Caucasian hairs and which often appear to be grouped in patchy areas within the shaft. Mongoloid hair can have a characteristic reddish appearance as a product of its pigment.

Negroid (African)
Hairs of Negroid or African origin are regularly curly or kinky, have a flattened cross section, and can appear curly, wavy, or coiled. Negroid pigment granules are larger than those found in Mongoloid and Caucasian hair and are grouped in clumps of different sizes and shapes. The density of the pigment in the hair shaft may be so great as to make the hair opaque. A Negroid hair shaft exhibits variation or apparent variation in diameter because of its flattened nature and the manner in which it lies on the microscope slide. Twisting of the hair shaft, known as buckling, can be present, and the hair shaft frequently splits along the length.



55 posted on 05/11/2006 2:11:53 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter (The Stations of the Cross in Poetry ---> http://www.wayoftears.com)
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To: OakOak
Not to be obtuse, but how did they know the pubic hair was male without DNA? I know of no morphological characteristics that differentiate between male and female pubic hairs other than the presence or absence of a Y chromosome (I am not suggesting she was raped by a woman, but there are many ways a female pubic hair could get on the victim, including public toilets, wearing borrowed or used clothing, etc.).
601 posted on 05/13/2006 6:24:08 AM PDT by Law is not justice but process
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