Immunoassays, Applications - Forensic

The terms forensic medicine, forensic science, and forensic pathology are often confused. However, forensic medicine or science in the broad sense can be classified into three main fields: forensic pathology, forensic toxicology, and forensic biology. Forensic pathology deals with the issues diagnosed at forensic (and administrative) autopsy. In forensic toxicology, all problems in relation to substances with pharmacological/poisonous effects on humans are investigated. Forensic biology is the field in which genetic markers or proteins are investigated in cases of stain analysis, autopsy of unidentified bodies, and paternity tests. Immunoassay commonly means a method for quantitative analysis of a substance using immunoreactions. However, the original meaning of the word ‘assay’ is not restricted to quantitative analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been developed in the area of histology as a qualitative investigation method to identify the existence/localization of antigens (immunohistochemistry). Besides, forensic analysis frequently requires a qualitative judgment and it is often achieved by examination using immunoreactions. Therefore, in this article we deal with the word ‘immunoassay’ in the broad sense including both quantitative and qualitative/semiquantitative analyses using immunoreactions.