This document provides information about blood typing, components of blood, blood volume, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, blood forensics, and blood pattern analysis. It discusses the history of blood typing including the discovery of blood groups by Landsteiner in 1901 and the Rh factor in 1940. It describes the cellular elements and plasma that make up blood. It also outlines the process of determining blood type, identifying human versus animal blood, analyzing blood patterns at crime scenes, and interpreting passive, transfer, and projected blood stains.

1. Blood History
• Different blood types were recognized in 1875,
but it wasn't until 1901 that Karl Landsteiner
named and standardized the groups.
• In 1940, Landsteiner also discovered the rhesus
factor in blood, labeling it Rh+ if the antigen was
present in the red blood cells and Rh- if not.
• Today, blood typing also includes different types
of enzymes and proteins that perform specific
activities in the body, which helps to individualize
the blood. (More than 150 serum proteins and
250 cellular enzymes have been isolated, as
well as many more antigens

2. What is in Blood?
• The three types of cellular elements
in the blood are: erythrocytes (red
blood cells), leukocytes (white blood
cells), and platelets.
• Plasma is the other portion that is in
blood.

3. What is in Blood
• The plasma is the
liquid part of the
blood, which is 90%
water. The other 10%
contains proteins,
waste products,
gases, and nutrients.
• Plasma makes up
55% of blood.

4. Blood Volume
• On average, accounts for 8 % of total body weight
- 5 to 6 liters of blood for males
– 4 to 5 liters of blood for females
• A 40 percent blood volume loss, internally or/and
externally, is required to produce irreversible shock
(death).
• A blood loss of 1.5 liters, internally or externally, is
required to cause incapacitation

5. Red Blood Cells
• Red Blood Cells
transport oxygen on
molecules called
Hemoglobin.
• Erythropoiesis is the
production of new red
cells.
• They are made at 2-3
million a second.
• Average lifespan is 120
days.

6. White Blood Cells
• Leukocytes are the mobile units of the body’s immune
system. They are also called white blood cells.
• They defend against the invasion of pathogens.
• They identify cancer cells.
• They remove the body’s litter by phagocytosis.
• They can leave the circulation and go to the sites
of invasion and tissue damage.
• There are five kinds of leukocytes.
• 5-10 million/ml of blood normal.

7. Platelets
• They remain
functional for about
10 days.
• 1/3 stored in spleen
• 250 million/ml of
blood
• They begin the
clotting to a wound.

8. Blood Typing
• Red blood cells carry
a substance called an
antigen, which
produces antibodies
to fight infection, and
several different
types.
• Types of A, B, O. This
is based on which
antigen is present and
which is absent.

9. Blood Typing
• RH factor is an
antigen on blood
that may or may not
be on the red blood
cell. It is labeled as
+ or -.
• Rare blood types
exist in addition to
the basic ABO
system.

10. Blood Types and Race
• The "O" type is most common among indigenous
people (like Aborigines and Native Americans) and
Latin Americans.
• The "A" type is most common among Caucasians
and those of European descent.
• The "B" type is most common among African-
Americans and certain Asians (e.g. Thai). The "AB"
type is most common among the Japanese and
certain Asians (e.g. Chinese).
• An interesting phenomenon is that Middle
Easterners are somewhat likely to have nucleated
red blood cells, whereas normally, red blood cells
contain no nucleus .

11. Blood Forensics
• Determination of the type and characteristics of
blood, blood testing, bloodstain examination, and
preparation of testimony or presentations at trial
are the main job functions of a forensic serologist,
who also analyzes semen, saliva, other body fluids
and may or may not be involved with DNA typing.
• Blood is the most common, well-known, and
perhaps most important evidence in the world of
criminal justice today.
• There's no substitute for it, whether for medical or
forensic purposes. Its presence always links
suspect and victim to one another and the scene of
violence.

12. Blood Presence Determination
• The first test is simply the use of a powerful light moved
across every surface of a crime scene. That yields
possible traces for visual inspection.
• If nothing is seen, but there is reason to suspect blood
had been present, a chemical called luminol is sprayed
across the scene because it reacts to blood by making it
luminescent. It only takes about five seconds.
• There is one problem with this test: luminol can destroy
the properties of the blood that investigators need for
further testing.
• The Kastle-Meyer Color Test uses a solution of
phenolphthalein and hydrogen peroxide on a piece of
filter paper, and when blood of any quantity is present, it
turns pink

13. Blood in the Courtroom
• Bloodstain patterns tell
a lot about position and
movement during the
crime, who struck
whom first, in what
manner, and how many
times.
• This destroys most alibi
and self-defense
arguments for crime,
and at the very least,
trips most suspects up
in their explanation of
what happened.

14. Blood Forensics
• When a darkish substance is found at a
crime scene, it must first be determined to
be blood.
• There are several tests—presumptive
tests used strictly for screening---that will
differentiate between blood and other
substances

15. Animal versus Human
• Investigators use the precipitin test to
determine whether the blood is of animal
or human origin. In summary, rabbit serum
is combined with the sample and if there is
a reaction then it is human blood.
• Animals have different antigens than
humans do.

16. Blood Forensics
• After determining that the blood is human,
analysts can go ahead and determine blood type
with an ABO test, and then work on the gender
of the person from whom the blood came.
• These days, thanks to discoveries in 1985, DNA
technology has replaced the tests for specific
enzymes and proteins.
• It's more accurate to match DNA from a blood
sample at a crime scene to a source than to
draw up an entire blood profile

17. Blood Loss History
• Blood may be dripped out, sprayed from an artery, oozed out
through a large wound, or flung off a weapon raised to strike
another blow.
In the 1930s, Scottish pathologist John Glaister classified blood
splashes into six distinct types:
• Drops on a horizontal surface
• Splashes, from blood flying through the air and hitting a surface at
an angle
• Pools around the body, which can show if it's been dragged
• Spurts from a major artery or vein
• Smears left by movement of a bleeding person
• Trails, either in form of smears when a bleeding body is dragged,
or in droplets when it is carried

18. Blood Pattern Forensics
• Blood pattern analysis plays an important role in the reconstruction
of many crime scenes.
• The various types of bloodstains indicate how the blood was
projected from the body via several factors:
• Type of injuries
• The order in which the wounds were received
• Whose blood is present
• The type of weapon that caused the injuries
• Whether the victim was in motion or lying still when the injury was
inflicted
• Whether the victim was moved after the injury was inflicted
• How far the blood drops fell before hitting the surface where they
were found.

19. Blood Drop Forensics
• The shape of a blood drop can reveal a lot about the conditions in which
it fell.
• Examples:
• If blood falls a short distance--around twelve inches—at a 45-degree
angle, the marks tend to be circular.
• If blood drops fall several feet straight down, the edges may become
crenellated, and the farther the distance from the source to the surface,
the more pronounced the crenellation.
• A height of six feet or more can produce small spurts that radiate out from
the main drop.
• If there are many drops less than an eighth of an inch across, with no
larger drop, then it may be concluded that the blood spatter probably
resulted from an impact.
• If the source was in motion when the blood leaked or spurted, or if the
drops flew through the air and hit an angled surface, the drops generally
look like stretched-out exclamation marks. The end of the stain that has
the smallest size blob indicates the direction in which the source was
moving.

20. Surface Tension
• The elastic like property of the surface
of the liquid that makes it tend to
contract, caused by the forces of
attraction between the molecules of the
liquid.
The cohesive forces tend to resist
penetration and separation.

21. Passive Blood Stains
• Passive Bloodstains are drops created or
formed by the force of gravity acting alone.
• Types: drips, drops, pools, and clots

22. Transfer Bloodstains
• A transfer bloodstain is created when a
wet, bloody surface comes in contact with
a secondary surface.
• Types: smear, wipe, smudges

23. Projected Blood Stains
• Projected bloodstains are
created when an exposed
blood source is subjected
to an action or force,
greater than the force of
gravity. (Internally or
Externally produced)
• The size, shape, and
number of resulting stains
will depend, primarily, on
the amount of force
utilized to strike the blood
source.

24. Types of Projected Blood Stains
• Arterial Spurt
• Cast-off Stains
• Impact Slatter

25. Impact Angle Determination
• These are found by using math formulas
measuring angles. For Example:

26. • http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/m
edicine/landsteiner/index.html
• This site is in MHS Science called “Blood
Type Game”
• Go there, play the game, take notes on
blood typing so you can run tests on the
Lois McArthur suspects.