ABSTRACT
The analysis of hair from a forensic viewpoint generally has been limited to microscopic analyses and comparisons. Traditionally, the analysis of protein genetic markers, and sex typing by the presence of sex chromosomes, were additional tools that could contribute to the characterization of the hair, but these analyses could be performed only on forcibly removed hairs. When an anagen phase, or actively growing hair, is plucked from the body it will often have sheath cells or a follicular tag associated with the root. The sheath material is the source of polymorphic proteins (Budowle and Davidson, 1985; Gambel et al., 1987). Unfortunately, the vast majority of hairs encountered at crime scenes do not contain sheath material and therefore genetic marker analysis cannot be performed routinely on hair evidence.
