Question: what is the most important part of forensic science to do with cells, or is it all equally important?

Andrew Devitt answered on 21 Jun 2013:

@beatlemaniac4ever what a great name.

Cells are really important. They carry lots of information and this can be really important when doing forensic science. You can find a lot of ‘fluids’ at a crime scene. Blood and semen would be two important ones that can tell you a lot about a crime. Blood from a victim or attacker can indicate a lot about what has gone on. But blood or semen from an attacker may well let you identify that person. Cells carry DNA and that’s a great way to get a genetic ‘fingerprint’ of the person. Working out the detailed blood group of a blood sample can tell you about the likely ethnic background of a person (and there are a lot more blood groups that just ABO blood grouping that you might have heard of). Semen can be an indicator of sexual activity at a crime scene and you can find semen as it fluoresces when you shine UV light on it.

Saliva will also carry DNA and can be used in forensics.