The Kastle-Meyer test is a presumptive blood test, first described in 1903, in which the chemical indicator phenolphthalein is used to detect the possible presence of hemoglobin. It relies on the peroxidase-like activity of hemoglobin in blood to catalyze the oxidation of phenolphthalin (the colorless reduced form of phenolphthalein) into phenolphthalein, which is visible as a bright pink color. The Kastle-Meyer test is a form of catalytic blood test, one of the two main classes of forensic tests commonly employed by crime labs in the chemical identification of blood. The other class of tests used for this purpose are microcrystal tests, such as the Taichmann crystal test and the Takayama crystal test.
Read more about Kastle-Meyer Test: Method, Limitations, Mechanism
Famous quotes containing the word test:
“It is commonly said, and more particularly by Lord Shaftesbury, that ridicule is the best test of truth; for that it will not stick where it is not just. I deny it. A truth learned in a certain light, and attacked in certain words, by men of wit and humour, may, and often doth, become ridiculous, at least so far, that the truth is only remembered and repeated for the sake of the ridicule.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)