Arson - The intentional and unlawful burning of a building or other property.
Asphyxiation - A medical term for suffocation, which leads to lack of oxygen in the blood.
Forensic medicine - A branch of medical science that uses medical knowledge for legal purposes.
Haemorrhage - To bleed severely.
Hypostasis - The pooling of blood as it accumulates at the lowest parts of the body, being pulled down by gravity; is a method of determining the position of the body at/after death.
Lacerations - Anything that has been torn roughly for example - a rough cut.
Luminal spray - A substance used to enhance fingerprints.
Ossification (osteogenesis)- A three-stage process by which bone is formed. The first step is the formation of a mesh of collagen fibers. Next, the body produces a "cement" substance (polysaccharide). Finally, small crystals of calcium salts are deposited into the cement to form bone.
PCR (polymerase chain reaction) - A method for amplifying a DNA base sequence using a heat stable polymerase and two 20-base primers, one complementary to the (+) strand at one end of the sequence to be amplified and the other complementary to the (-) strand at the other end.
Rigor mortis - The stiffening of the body muscles after death.
Strangulation - The condition of having respiration stopped by compression of the air passage.
