DID the victim die of a stab wound, or was the injury inflicted after death? Existing forensic techniques are limited in their ability to determine exactly when a stab wound was inflicted, but experiments on the bodies of 64 stab victims may point to a more precise method.
It involves counting white blood cells called mast cells in and around the edges of a wound, which appear to vanish as healing begins.
Mast cells aid healing by releasing granules containing growth factors to rebuild tissue, and enzymes that destroy dead flesh. After releasing their granules, the cells lose the ability…
