ArticleJournal of forensic sciences2026
Sharp force trauma analysis without animal bones: A proposal for sustainable and ethical bone proxies.
Article in Journal of forensic sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Sharp force trauma analysis without animal bones: A proposal for sustainable and ethical bone proxies.Journal of forensic sciences · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Sharp force trauma has been the leading cause of homicide in England and Wales for more than a decade. Experimental research on sharp force trauma frequently relies on animal bone as a substitute for human remains, yet their ethical acceptability and comparability to human bone remain contested. This study aims to identify non-animal proxy materials capable of replicating the morphological characteristics of cut marks typically observed in porcine bones. A total of 250 cuts were made on pig ribs and on several proxy materials (paraffin, restoration compound, plaster, and beeswax) using a serrated knife. Six morphological traits were then recorded following the analytical framework proposed by Steiger and Borrini (J Forensic Sci, 2024;69:1972). Chi-squared tests of independence and mixed-model analyses demonstrated that different proxy materials vary in their suitability for specific traits, and that among all tested materials, beeswax most closely replicated porcine bone in the context of cut marks produced with a serrated blade. Considering the ethical implications of using animal bone, this research proposes sustainable, cruelty-free alternatives for experimental and educational purposes. Their adoption reflects contemporary ethical awareness regarding animal use in science and promotes ecological and economic sustainability through reusability.
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Registered trials
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