LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) - It's something you would see in a television crime drama., but a Viterbo student's research project could help bring in a real-life suspect.
Future forensic scientist Emma Akemann is working with La Crosse's Fire Department to test blood spatter in an arson case.
The department helped her simulate a fire and used pig's blood as possible evidence in the case.
The goal is to find out if blood can be used as evidence after a fire.
Once all the samples are pulled she will find out how the blood is impacted by fire.
"We're going to spray them with a solution called luminal that reacts with the iron in the blood so if the blood is still present even if the rest of the blood has burned away that it should glow blue in the dark and we will know that it's still possible to use as evidence," says Viterbo Junior Emma Akemann.
Akemann said being a forensic scientist is something she has wanted to do since high school.
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