Note: For systematic learning of the Hair analysis MCQs in Forensic Science, you can hover over the main page of Trace Evidence MCQs sections.
1. Two Features that make hair a good subject for establishing individual identify are:
- Its cuticle and Morphology
- Its length and thickness
- Its diameter and color
- Its resistance to chemical decomposition and its ability to retain structural features over a long period of time.
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (4) Its resistance to chemical decomposition and its ability to retain structural features over a long period of time.
2. Which of the following preservatives is used for preserving hair for DNA analysis?
- Normal saline
- Dimethyl sulfoxide
- Rectified spirit
- No preservative is required
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (4) No preservative is required
Explanation: For hair and nails samples, there is no need for preservatives to extract the DNA from it.
3. The study of hair is also known as which of the following?
- Histology
- Trichology
- Phytology
- Pathology
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (2) Trichology
Explanation: -> Scientific study of hair and its diseases is called trichology.
-> Trichology is not just the study of hair but also the scalp.
4. Assertion (A): Hair evidence may play a role in personal identification.
Reason (R): For its ability to retain structural features over a long period of time.
- Both (A) and (R) are correct
- (A) is correct and (R) is incorrect
- Both (A) and (R) are incorrect
- (A) is incorrect and (R) is correct
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (1) Both (A) and (R) are correct
5. When hair follicles reach the top of the skin, the outer layer begins to harden into _______.
- Antigen
- Keratin
- Telogen
- Serotonin
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (2) Keratin
6. Hairs are principally composed of Keratins, that are interlinked to form stable fibrils and pigment composed of_____________
- Hemoglobin
- Rhodopsin
- Melanin
- All of the above
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (3) Melanin
7. Outermost layer of hair is known as:
- Medulla
- Cortex
- Cuticle
- Pigment layer
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (3) Cuticle
Explanation: Outer layer: Cuticle (transparent layer)
-> Middle Layer: Cortex (contains natural pigment melanin)
-> Inner most layer: Medulla
8. Which of the following is the innermost layer of human hair?
- Medulla
- Cuticle
- Cortex
- Scales
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (1) Medulla
Explanation: Three layers of hair:
-> Cuticle: Outermost
-> Cortex: Middle
-> Medulla: Innermost
9. It is true about human hair that the medulla is:
- Always present
- Fragmented, continuous or absent
- Always broader than the cortex
- Always absent
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (2) Fragmented, continuous or absent
Explanation: The medulla is the innermost layer of the hair shaft which is generally fragmented, continuous, or absent in human hair.
10. Cuticle, a portion of hair consists of scales of different types. One of the types is spinous or petal like are not found in :
- Cats
- Humans
- Seal
- Rats
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (2) Humans
Explanation: Human hair has flattened and narrow scales on the cuticle which is also called imbricate.
11. The Cortex derives’ its major forensic importance because it is embedded with pigment granules that gives hair its:
- Strength
- Length
- Color
- Both length and strength
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (3) Color
Explanation: -> Cortex is the thickest middle layer of hair, containing granules (melanin) that give hair its color.
-> These are some of the abundance types of melanin
• Eumelanin: Black or brown hair
• Pheomelanin: Red hair
12. Primordial, lanugo, vellus and terminal are types of
- Animal hair
- Human hair
- Natural fibers
- Synthetic fibers
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (2) Human hair
Explanation: There are basically four types of human hair:
-> Primordial Hairs: They appear as early as the beginning of the third month of gestation; grow on the upper lip, eyebrows, palms, and soles of fetuses. Develops 9 to 22 weeks.
-> Lanugo Hair: Hairs of newborn and found usually up to six months of gestation and are fine, downy, soft, non-pigmented, non-medullated hairs. Shed by 36 to 40 weeks.
-> Vellus Hair: They are short, thin, light-colored, and barely noticeable hair.
-> Terminal Hair: Adult hair stimulated to grow by androgens.
13. Lanugo hairs are seen
- Newborn
- Child upto 6 month old
- Child upto 36 month old
- Both (1) and (2)
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (4) Both (1) and (2)
Explanation: Lanugo hairs are soft, downy, and unpigmented and cover the body of newborns. They develop in the fourth and fifth months of pregnancy.
14. Which of these types of human hair do not have sebaceous glands:
- Terminal
- Lanugo
- Vellus
- All of the above
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (3) Vellus
Explanation: Vellus Hair: They are short, thin, light-colored, and barely noticeable hair.
-> Lanugo hair is much thicker than the vellus type of hair that normally grows only on fetuses.
15. The phase of hair growth includes all of the following, except:
- Catagen
- Telogen
- Anagen
- Follicagen
Answer and Explanation
Answer: (4) Follicagen
Explanation: There are three stages of hair growth: Anagen, Catagen and Telogen phase.
16. Hair examination under a microscope cannot tell about
- Where on the body the hair came from
- Whether it is permed or not
- A person’s race
- A person’s gender
Answer
Answer: (4) A person’s gender
Note: Jump to the main page of the Trace Evidence MCQs.