How has technology impacted Forensic Science?
More sensitive, more specific and more expensive instrumentation is available. Additionally, new technology has to be accepted into the court system before it can be used in a case. Thus, it has to be accepted by the scientific community in general. No highly sophisticated technology can be used in court unless it has been shown to be reliable, exact, and free from false positives, and false negatives (Kelly-Fry finding). • Why did you decide to go into the field of Forensic Science? In 1972 (when I was in graduate school) I was on TV demonstrating how a new technology, GC-MS, was used to characterize moon samples. A doctor working in one of the large Boston hospitals saw the TV news special and called me asking if “..this new GC-MS technology would help with a drug overdose victim?” I said I would try to help. I took one drop of his patient’s blood and easily discovered that his female patient had ingested huge amounts of Darvon! He was then able to treat her properly and she recovere
