Development of a method for the forensic analysis of head hair to infer biological sex

The identification of a victim or suspect is often a top priority in criminal investigations. Biological sex determination can narrow down a list of potential victims or suspects. Although deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a powerful tool in identifying suspects and victims, its use in hair is limited by poor yield and degradation, often being insufficient for identification. Yet, hair is a valuable piece of evidence due to its durability, non-invasive collection, and ability to retain a record of trace elements over time. This project will validate and expand a method involving elemental analysis to enable sex determination using very small amounts of hair, which is essential in forensic contexts where only minimal trace evidence may be available. Replicating the proof-of-concept method used at Queen’s University on a different instrument in France and applying it to non-Canadian hair will allow verification of the method’s robustness while expanding it. The effect of hair dye will also be studied, as criminals may use it to alter their appearance, to identify “fingerprint elements” indicative of sex but not affected by hair dye. For the first time, this will be done through high resolution imaging of cross-sections of hair at the host institution.

Faculty Supervisor:

Diane Beauchemin

Student:

Partner:

Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Technology

University:

Queen's University

Program: