Molecular Biology in Forensic Science. Topic 5: Looking ahead at an impactful future

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10931630/

 Special Issue “Molecular Biology in Forensic Science"  March 1st, 2024 

Molecular Biology has been a revolutionary tool in contributing to advancing forensic science. It has been used for criminal investigations, paternity complications, identifying missing people, and justifying those that are wrongly convicted. Earlier techniques that were used were restriction fragment length polymorphisms, while today electrophoresis and next-generation sequencing has become the standard to forensics. Through better identification of species, miRNA has been used as a stable biomarker for forensic investigations and clinical diagnoses. These biological approaches have promising potential in strengthening the reliability of science in both the legal and healthcare field. 

Importance:  This article shows the importance of how impactful molecular biology concepts can be in forensics. They improve the approach to investigating and diagnosing, make conclusions in crime scenes more reliable, and can be used outside the forensic science field like for population genetics and speciation. I believe that molecular biology can enforce justice in the legal system. It is very common for people to get wrongly convicted with crimes due to limited evidence. However, molecular biology can provide detailed breakdowns of DNA and allow a safe society because it shows who actually committed the crimes.

I learned more information about how the emerging technologies in NGS and microRNA work to provide DNA and identification analysis. Questions I have are: Why are miRNA better as biomarkers? Can other fields like chemistry be applied to forensics?

Vocab: 

forensic: Latin word of "forensis" relating to law

pathology: "patho" is a disease. The study of diseases

Biomarker: "bio" life, "marker" indicator. Measures things in organisms

                                      Picture from explorehealthcareers.org

Establishing new genomic surveillance Topic 4: Addressing the uprising in Monkey Pox

 https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/31/5/24-1299_article

Real-Time Use of Monkeypox Virus Genomic Surveillance, April 2025

Mpox, or known as Monkeypox, is an infectious virus that is caused by direct human contact or through animals. It has been significantly endemic to western and central Africa. However, its transmission started to spread to many other countries in 2022. The countries included Spain, Canada, United States, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. From this sudden outbreak, Genomic surveillance took place to determine epidemiologic linkages. Through conducted data from the surveillance, it showed that the rare descent of A.2.1 was found from travelers from non endemic regions. There was seen to be 92 nucleotide differences compared to other lineages, showing it came from a distinct origin.

Importance: This article shows the importance of using Genomic surveillance to investigate the details of widespread viruses, like Mpox. With this usage, public health was able to determine which linage caused the number of Mpox cases and identified most of the pathogen sequences. I chose this article because I had remembered when discussion started to occur from the spread of the virus. We had just started recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic and the start of cases were troubling to everyone including me. However, with using Genomic surveillance, we can have clarification on transmissions and know better what actions to take. This impacted the use of global use of data sharing and helped find ways to reduce the spread of the virus in different countries.

I learned how surveillance can be used to build a phylogenetic tree that describes cases from any region! Some questions I have are: By what percent did cases to decrease by? How can genomic surveillance be used to track animal transmission of Mpox?

Vocab:

Orthopoxvirus: ortho-"straight" A genus that comes from zoonotic diseases

Phylogenetic: phylo-"tribe" Diversification of a species or group of organisms

tecovirimat: vir- "virus" Antiviral medication that is used to treat smallpox, monkeypox, and cowpox.

Picture taken from UC Davis Health of a close up of Mpox

Peculiar blood test outcomes in Pregnancy Topic 3: Cancers in NIPT

https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2025/nipt-reveals-cancer-in-pregnant-women

Unusual NIPT findings from Pregnancy testing is resulting in the detection of certain cancers. 

During their pregnancy, Pregnant women must undergo blood testing to make sure the fetus is healthy and doesn’t carry any chromosomal disorders. This type of testing is called noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) which has been found to have unusual results not from the fetus, but the Mother’s DNA. Using a study of more than 100 women who found abnormal changes, nearly half of them were found to have cancers like colorectal, breast, lung cancer etc. It is critical that all women should go through whole- body imaging to detect these cancers at an early stage to provide necessary treatment. They hope to develop more accessible cancer screening that is useful in seeing if there are any risks for cancer in the Mother’s DNA pattern. 

Importance: This article is important in raising awareness for the possibility of mothers to develop cancer during their pregnancies and how symptoms are not clear enough to detect them easily. I believe that all women, especially those that are in critical times like pregnancy, should have full accessibility to care that clearly provides them with a detailed plan of their health. By acknowledging this issue in the Mother’s DNA, oncologists and maternity specialists can be more aware early on to help treat cancers that have affected people worldwide. 

I learned an interesting fact that the mother’s blood contains fragments of DNA shed from her own cells! Some raising questions that passed my mind are: Is there any medical equipment being developed that is specialized in detecting cancers in pregnancy? How does the development of cancers in the Mother’s DNA impact the fetus later on?

Vocab: 

Aneuploidy:  An extra or missing chromosomes in a cell or organism

Oncology: The study, diagnosis, and prevention of the treatment of cancer

Asymptomatic: Not being presented with symptoms

Source for image: https://bloom-obgyn.com/non-invasive-prenatal-test-nipt/

Revolutionizing tumor surgery! Topic 2: Augmented reality goggles

 Topic: Seeing eye to eye: building a cost-effective tool to visualize cancer  (January 10, 2025 )

https://www.nibib.nih.gov/news-events/newsroom/seeing-eye-eye-building-cost-effective-tool-visualize-cancer

Traditional surgical tools to remove tumors can be inaccessible and complex. However, the NIBIB team use florescence- guided surgery that can overcome the adversities that are associated with traditional methods of surgery. The system uses a fluorophore which uses a certain type of light to see the tumor's activity, allowing it to be removed easier and stimulate healthy tissues. The fluorophores need operating rooms to be dark, which is not ideal. Instead, researchers developed Augmented reality (AR) goggles, which can allow surgeons to project the location of the tumor without needing turning off the lights. This is because the goggles can display the florescence which doesn't depend on light factors. 

Importance: The AR goggles make tumor surgery less expensive and more efficient regarding detection compared to other approaches. This new technology eliminates the problem of needing a certain lighting to conduct the florescence- guided surgery and simple to use. 

I chose this article because of how intriguing the parts of the glasses were. The involvement of the Raspberry Pi and 3D printed mounts caught my attention of its intricacy. Even though the glasses look simple from the outside, it is responsible for running a whole system that carries out NIR fluorescence. 

If this becomes more prevalent in surgical processes, it can improve the accuracy of tumors to be detected. This can have a big impact on the community. It is estimated that 2,960 people were diagnosed with a brain tumor in North Carolina (NBTS, 2022). With this new technology, these people have potential of detecting their tumor early on and avoid further disruption. I learned that tumor detection involves many parts like beam splitters and laser diodes. 

Can the AR Goggles work proficiently for tumors in different parts of the body? Can Augmented reality be used in other fields of medicine? 

Vocab: 

• Fluorescence: Emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or radiation
• Parallax: Alignment of images based on object's position
• Near- Infrared: Light that travels farther in tissues
• Optical: Technology that promotes eyesight and light

The start of Lab to Life! Topic 1: Restoring Facial Nerves

Topic: Addressing facial nerve tissues reconstruction using Stem Cells (December 23, 2024 )

https://www.nibib.nih.gov/news-events/newsroom/engineering-smile

Facial nerve disorders and injuries can severely impact a person's ability to nonverbal communication in the face like smiling. The traditional approach to facial nerve tissues is using autografts, which includes transplantation of the patient's tissue in another part of their body. The issue with this technique is that it is unpredictable, the odds of fixing the donor site varies. However, using Stem Cells, researchers at the University Pittsburgh have developed implantable conduits using Stem Cells to guide injured nerves.

Importance: This highlights a key advancement that could replace undependable autograft approaches that are being used currently. Stem cells can regenerate tissue that is tailored to the patient's needs and reduce complications.

I chose this article because it caught my attention, imagine a world where you couldn't have the ability to Smile? Smiling and other nonverbal communication is an important part for a human and I hope that Stem Cells can fix this issue for those who need it.

If this becomes a more prevalent therapy, it can improve the ability for affected individuals to have nonverbal communication. Tissue regeneration is a less complicated process to transplantations, which can allow for problems in facial nerve tissues to be resolved easier. I learned that biomolecules are produced in Stem cells and they can make their own scaffolds as seen with dental pulp stem cells. 

When is this stem cell therapy going to start being used on humans? How long does it take facial tissue to regenerate?  

Vocab: 

• Stem Cells: Cells that are capable of changing to other cell types
• Axon: Projections extended from neurons
•  Conduits: Structure, channel or tube, that guides nerve regeneration
• Biomimetic: Biological systems that mimic human behavior
• Autograft: transplantation that is one's own tissue