Discarding used organic samples in a forensic lab
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4531378 |
|---|---|
| Authors | C Fonseca (0000-0002-7761-6095, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, corresponding author), Rodrigo Grazinoli Garrido (0000-0003-4430-0729) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 3-17 |
| Publication date | 2019-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Human Remains and Violence An Interdisciplinary Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2054-2240 • E-ISSN: 2054-2240 |
| Publisher | Manchester University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.7227/hrv.5.1.2 |
| OpenAlex | W2948664252 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 9 |
In this article we explore the relational materiality of fragments of human cadavers used to produce DNA profiles of the unidentified dead at a forensic genetics police laboratory in Rio de Janeiro. Our point of departure is an apparently simple problem: how to discard already tested materials in order to open up physical space for incoming tissue samples. However, during our study we found that transforming human tissues and bone fragments into disposable trash requires a tremendous institutional investment of energy, involving negotiations with public health authorities, criminal courts and public burial grounds. The dilemma confronted by the forensic genetic lab suggests not only how some fragments are endowed with more personhood than others, but also how the very distinction between human remains and trash depends on a patchwork of multiple logics that does not necessarily perform according to well-established or predictable scripts
Aesthetics · Biology · Criminology · Dilemma · Epistemology · Forensic science · Negotiation · Personhood · Political science · Scripting language · Sociology · Computer Science · Forensic and Genetic Research · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Law · Philosophy · Race, Genetics, and Society · Genetics
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |