Semen detection in forensic medicine

Abstract

          Identification of semen is one of the most important evidence of sexual assault by male and influence to the court judgement. Till now, Identification of semen is only sperm detection. Presumptive tests in Thailand are Zinc test, Acid phosphatase test, Prostate specific antigen test and Semenogelin test. The Semenogelin test is the most reliable preliminary test at present. The Y-STR can be only personal identification but it could not be semen identification. The alternate light sources can also be use as presumptive semen stain identification at scene. In the future, RAMAN and/or the miRNAs could be confirmation of semen identification and standard laboratory testing for semen deteciton will be miRNAs and Y-STR/DNA. All of the semen detection tests have their weakness so even if all of the tests result in negative, it is not mean that there is no semen.