Hair and fiber

Question 1

Hair is composed of which protein?

Answer 1

the protein keratin

Question 2

TRUE OF FALSE : You can test hair evidence for nuclear DNA, weather or not the root is present.

Answer 2

FALSE, the root must be present to test for nuclear DNA, but the hair may be tested using mitochondrial DNA whether or not the root is present.

Question 3

The three parts of a hair strand are….

Answer 3

Medulla
Cortex
Cuticle

Question 4

TRUE OR FALSE : the cuticle can be used to differentiate between individuals

Answer 4

FALSE : you can only tell apart different species

Question 5

Can the cortex tell individuals apart ?

Answer 5

yes, it is the most important component in determining from which individual a human hair may have come.

Question 6

TRUE OR FALSE : the Medulla can be absent in some species

Answer 6

TRUE

Question 7

what is a fiber ?

Answer 7

A fiber is the smallest unit of a textile material that has a length many times greater than its diameter.

Question 8

How can fibers be useful in an investigation ?

Answer 8

Matching unique fibers on the clothing of a victim to fibers on a suspect’s clothing can be very helpful to an investigation, whereas the matching of common fibers such as white cotton or blue denim fibers would be less helpful.

Question 9

Common natural fibers

Answer 9

• cotton (from plants)

- wool (from sheep)

Question 10

Common synthetic fibers

Answer 10

Nylon, rayon, and polyester are all examples of synthetic fibers.