Solving criminal cases with the help of bed bugs!

According to RCO News Agency, Forensic science has long relied on insects to solve criminal cases—from estimating the time of death to tracking the movement of a corpse. Now, new research has highlighted the potential of bed bugs as a source of human DNA in criminal investigations, showing that they can link suspects to crime scenes.

According to Advanced Science News, Paola Magni, a researcher at Murdoch University in Australia, who was not involved in this research, explained: Insects play an important role in forensic research, especially in estimating the distance after death, providing toxicological information. , they are responsible for investigating the main crime scene, where the body was discovered, and facilitating DNA identification. Although cadaver flies and carrion beetles have usually become the focus of attention due to their habitation in decomposing corpse remains, the scope of forensic entomology is much broader and includes many other species of insects and arthropods.

Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are wingless insects that feed on the blood of vertebrates at all stages of their life cycle, regardless of sex. Bed bugs move on clothes, shoes and furniture and are usually spread passively. Bed bugs found on carpets, beds, and other furniture at a crime scene are less likely to make it to the scene due to their lack of wings.

Fayetteville State University researcher Khalid Lodhi and his colleagues investigated whether human blood ingested by bedbugs at a crime scene could be used to identify a suspect or victim’s DNA.

Bed bugs usually feed at night and get a full meal from their host. In rare cases, the insect may transfer to another host when food is interrupted. This means that the blood found in the same bed bug could have come from two different people. On the other hand, one meal can often be enough for the insect to progress to the next life stage and produce eggs for up to two weeks. Therefore, mixing of blood from multiple hosts is unlikely, making DNA identification more certain.

In their experiments, the researchers exposed the bed bugs to male blood or a mixture of male and female blood for 30 minutes. They then collected the bedbugs after 12 to 108 hours to examine both the blood and the DNA.

The researchers used rapid spot detection, a common method for rapid and accurate detection of biological substances such as blood in forensic samples. is This method was able to detect human blood in bed bugs.

Magni said: “Future research will focus on replicating the experiment under real crime conditions and consider the environmental, chemical and biological dynamics affecting crime scenes.” This work will include investigating the effect of temperature, humidity and variable storage methods on DNA recovery and degradation.

This research was published in “Journal of Forensic Sciences”.

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