Sketching suspects with DNA, and using light to find Zika-infected mosquitoes

Sketching suspects with DNA, and using light to find Zika-infected mosquitoes

DNA fingerprinting has been used to link people to crimes for decades, by matching DNA from a crime scene to DNA extracted from a suspect. Now, investigators are using other parts of the genome—such as markers for hair and eye color—to help rule people in and out as suspects. Staff Writer Gretchen Vogel talks with Sarah Crespi about whether science supports this approach and how different countries are dealing with this new type of evidence. Sarah also talks with Jill Fernandes of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, about her Science Advances paper on a light-based technique for detecting Zika in mosquitoes. Instead of grinding up the bug and extracting Zika DNA, her group shines near-infrared light through the body. Mosquitoes carrying Zika transmit this light differently from uninfected ones. If it’s successful in larger trials, this technique could make large-scale surveillance of infected mosquitoes quicker and less expensive. In our monthly books segment, Jen Golbeck talks with author Sarah-Jayne Blakemore about her new work: Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain. You can check out more book reviews and share your thoughts on the Books et al. blog. This week’s episode was edited by Podigy. Listen to previous podcasts. [Image: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health; Music: Jeffrey Cook] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Episoder(652)

Death in a gene-editing trial, and insect larvae surviving in deep waters

Death in a gene-editing trial, and insect larvae surviving in deep waters

First up on the podcast, freelance science journalist Brendan Borrell talks about his work reporting on the previously undisclosed death of a 6-year-old girl in a gene-editing clinical trial in China ...

23 Jul 0s

Health care in Malawi after USAID’s end, and a rocky exoplanet with an atmosphere

Health care in Malawi after USAID’s end, and a rocky exoplanet with an atmosphere

First up on the podcast, we continue our coverage of the fallout from cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), this time focusing on how one of the largest recipients of aid is c...

16 Jul 41min

Owl wars and the immune system’s memory

Owl wars and the immune system’s memory

First up on the podcast, Contributing Correspondent Warren Cornwall goes on an owl hunt in the woods of Northern California. After surviving logging and habitat destruction in the 1990s, the endangere...

9 Jul 35min

How Antarctica got its ice sheets, and what happens when geopolitical relationships turn chilly in the Arctic

How Antarctica got its ice sheets, and what happens when geopolitical relationships turn chilly in the Arctic

First up on the podcast, relationships turn chilly in the polar research haven of Svalbard in Norway. Senior International Correspondent Richard Stone joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss the impacts of...

2 Jul 32min

Cracking color vision, U.S. science policy changes, and a trailblazing biography

Cracking color vision, U.S. science policy changes, and a trailblazing biography

First up on the podcast, ScienceInsider editor Jocelyn Kaiser joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss big policy stories from the past month, including a proposal from President Donald Trump’s administrati...

25 Jun 45min

An electronic nose that detects spoiled chicken, and wolves make a spectacular comeback in Europe

An electronic nose that detects spoiled chicken, and wolves make a spectacular comeback in Europe

First up on the podcast, wrangling wolves in Europe. After near extermination in much of the continent, wolf numbers have surged up to about 20,000 individuals. Contributing Correspondent Gretchen Vog...

18 Jun 46min

How childhood environments shape the brain, and how susceptible is the Atlantic Ocean’s current to climate change?

How childhood environments shape the brain, and how susceptible is the Atlantic Ocean’s current to climate change?

First up on the podcast, producer Kevin McLean talks with Staff Writer Paul Voosen about the latest on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC. Researchers have long been concerned th...

11 Jun 31min

Will AI replace astronomers, how healthy are ultraprocessed foods, and a peek behind the scenes of ‘The Normals’

Will AI replace astronomers, how healthy are ultraprocessed foods, and a peek behind the scenes of ‘The Normals’

First up on the podcast, freelance science journalist Joshua Sokol talks about the intense discussion happening in the astrophysics community as artificial intelligence and machine learning become inc...

4 Jun 50min

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