Back to the Future - Part 2. Post-mortem assessment and evolutionary role of the bio-medicolegal sciences

Int J Legal Med. 2017 Jul;131(4):1085-1101. doi: 10.1007/s00414-017-1585-7. Epub 2017 Apr 25.

Abstract

Part 2 of the review "Back to the Future" is dedicated to the evolutionary role of the bio-medicolegal sciences, reporting the historical profiles, the state of the art, and prospects for future development of the main related techniques and methods of the ancillary disciplines that have risen to the role of "autonomous" sciences, namely, Genetics and Genomics, Toxicology, Radiology, and Imaging, involved in historic synergy in the "post-mortem assessment," together with the mother discipline Legal Medicine, by way of its primary fundament, universally denominated as Forensic Pathology. The evolution of the scientific research and the increased accuracy of the various disciplines will be oriented towards the elaboration of an "algorithm," able to weigh the value of "evidence" placed at the disposal of the "justice system" as real truth and proof.

Keywords: Bio-Medicolegal sciences - Forensic Pathology; Forensic autopsy; Genetics and genomics; Medicolegal autopsy; Post-mortem assessment; Radiology and imaging; Toxicology.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Chemistry Techniques, Analytical
  • DNA Fingerprinting / trends*
  • Databases, Nucleic Acid
  • Forecasting
  • Forensic Toxicology / trends*
  • Humans
  • Metabolomics
  • Microsatellite Repeats
  • Pharmacogenomic Variants
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Proteomics
  • Specimen Handling