AUTHOR=Elliott Colin I. , Shafer Aaron B. A. , Stotesbury Theresa E. TITLE=The crux of time: A meta-analysis of ex vivo whole blood degradation JOURNAL=Frontiers in Analytical Science VOLUME=2 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/analytical-science/articles/10.3389/frans.2022.928573 DOI=10.3389/frans.2022.928573 ISSN=2673-9283 ABSTRACT=
Estimating the time since deposition (TSD) of a bloodstain can provide important medico-legal information for crime scene investigation. Research in this area primarily investigates the degradation of either hemoglobin or genetic material over time. In this work, we present a comprehensive meta-analysis on bloodstain TSD research. Our results are interpreted from 25 quantitative studies used to probe the effect of biomolecule studied, analytical technique used, substrate porosity, environmental conditions, and blood source on TSD estimates. There was an overall strong effect of time across studies (Fisher’s Zr = 1.66,