1. Did you know Biotechnology is applied in forensic
science?
No - 4 votes (7%)
2.
Did you know that only the root of the hair contains DNA and not the whole
strand?
Yes - 38 votes (61%)
No - 24 votes (39%)
3. Did you know that fingernails do not contain DNA and that forensic
investigators actually look for skin or flesh beneath the fingernails
that has been scrapped during a struggle?
Yes - 44 votes (73%)
No - 16 votes (27%)
Total votes - 60
4.
Do you think a DNA bank of convicted criminals will help solve criminal
investigation?
Yes - 54 votes (87%)
No -2 votes (3%)
Maybe - 6 votes (10%)
Don't know - 0 votes (0%)
Total votes - 62
Of
56 readers polled, 52 believed that forensics science is relevant to the
field of biotechnology. In terms of forensics knowledge, most readers
were generally well-informed, with 61% knowing that only the root of the
hair contains DNA, and 73% that knew the fingernails do not contain DNA,
but investigators look for tissue samples that were scraped off during
a struggle. This is in contrast to the respective 39% and 27% who had
no such knowledge of the field. However, readers professed their confidence
in forensics as 87% believed that a DNA bank would be the solution for
faster crime-solving, with a further 10% maintaining their reservation
and 3% believed otherwise.
