So! I'm reading the article and before I finish the first sentence, I see it deals with our lovely University!
In September, Science Daily reports how the microbial clock can help determine the time of death of an individual. A research group is working closely with Dr. Sibyl Bucheli and Aaron Lynne (spelled Linne according to them) to discover how this is so. The scientists are testing the microbes on a body as one decomposes as a function of external factors such as "weather, seasons, animal scavenging and insect infestations". The study is still pretty new, so there isn't anything conclusive, but it is still interesting!
I thought the article was pretty cool because it dealt with good ol' SHSU. Is it just me or did you slightly get excited as well?!
Find the link below:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130924153953.htm
Yay us! Hahaha.
ReplyDeleteIt's always exciting to hear about research being done here at SHSU! :) I think this is a great research project!
ReplyDeleteYay SHSU! I wonder what sort of implications the conclusions of this study will have. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteWe're hoping to better understand the ecology behind bacterial fluctuations when it comes to human decomposition. Also, later down the road when this is studied in even more depth, we hope that the post-mortem interval (time since death) can be indicated when human remains are found at various stages of decomposition, just by testing the microbial composition found on the remains. We are also looking into the soil microbiology at sites of human decomposition as a possible indication of this as well as maybe one day applying this in estimating whether the location is a dump site or if the individual actually died there.
DeleteI feel like I saw this on a poster somewhere in the LDB. This is so cool though! Microbes possibly helping us by telling when the person died is just another way that forensics is getting better and better everyday!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised if it is the LDB, considering Dr. Lynne is a big fan of combinding forensics with microbiology!
DeleteIt's next to our lab! Haha
DeleteThere you have it!! Haha, awesome!
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