Maggie Krieg
11/7/21
Forensics
Current Event 7
"The Search for a Microbial Death Clock," September 24, 2021, nij.ojp.gov: https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/search-microbial-death-clock
The article “The Search for a Microbial Death Clock” is about how forensic scientists are now using microbes usually involved in human decomposition to determine time of death. Usually forensic scientists use insects and physiological changes to determine a victim's time of death. However, there are certain conditions that can influence and alter the determination of time of death. For example, certain temperatures can affect the arrival of insects and change the way the body decomposes. Now, due to the advancement of DNA technology, we can use the microbes that break down organs and other tissues to determine time of death. There have been many different “Body farms” that have been using this microbial progression of decomposition, and there has been lots of data that has been collected. Such as, the difference between when insects are active and when the bacteria is active. The more information you have, the more accurate the investigation is going to be.
This is very important for forensic science. It is going to make investigations more accurate. As well as more ways to determine the time of death of a body. Since there are many ways that a post mortem interval can be changed (due to temperature, location, etc…) this new technology will allow for forensic scientists to have much more accurate information when discovering the time of death of a victim, and hopefully more insight on cause of death.
The author of this article did a wonderful job when writing this article. I thought that they were clear and did a good job explaining what this article is about. I thought that they could’ve expanded more on how this new technology was found. Other than that, I thought that this article was very interesting and very well written.
3 comments:
Elizabeth Burnell
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics (EF Odd) // Current Events 8
January 9, 2022
"The Search for a Microbial Death Clock," September 24, 2021, nij.ojp.gov: https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/search-microbial-death-clock.
Current Event by Maggie Krieg: https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-search-for-microbial-death-clock.html
In November of 2022, Maggie Krieg wrote an insightful response to an article published in the National Institute of Justice. Krieg’s report exhibited many strengths, like how she clearly stated the overall message of the article in the very beginning, thus providing additional clarity for the reader. Additionally, I enjoyed her discussion of “Body Farms” within her report, as we have been learning about that concept within Death’s Acre. Lastly, I appreciated how Krieg used parenthetical additions to provide more information and details throughout her writing.
While I greatly enjoyed reading Krieg’s report, there were a few areas that could be improved. Firstly, I noticed some minor grammatical errors within some of sentences that could be corrected. Secondly, I think her paper could have improved by adding some quotes from the original article into her writing.
I thought the topic of Krieg’s writing was extremely fascinating. While we have been learning to estimate the time of death through insects and physiological changes, I enjoyed learning about this new aspect of forensic science that could prove to be an invaluable tool in the future.
There were three aspects in this article that I had thought were very well presented. The first one being how forensic scientists are now using microbes usually involved in human decomposition to determine time of death. Another aspect well presented was certain temperatures can affect the arrival of insects and change the way the body decomposes. Lastly the last aspect well presented was There have been many different “Body farms” that have been using this microbial progression of decomposition, and there has been lots of data that has been collected.
Even though the review was great, there are two critiques that I have. One critique is that I think there needs to be more opinionated statements about the Topic. I also think that There needs to be more critiques that you had personally on the article. Other than that it was a great review.
There was one aspect that I was impressed about in the article. The aspect was how forensic scientists are now using microbes usually involved in human decomposition to determine time of death. I thought this was amazing how we are taking advantage of this opportunity, and how much our technology is growing. WOW.
Brody Pearlman
1/9/22
Forensic Science
Current Event 8
"The Search for a Microbial Death Clock," September 24, 2021, nij.ojp.gov: https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/search-microbial-death-clock
Bronxville HS Forensics Blog: The Search for a Microbial Death Clock (bhscsi.blogspot.com)
In Maggie's review, I felt that there were multiple positives. Firstly, she did well in explaining how microbes changed the way that scientists are now able to more accurately determine the time of death. By doing this, she helps the reader understand the new DNA technology and science, Secondly, she did well in explaining the previous limitations of estimating decomposition through different situations. She lists them off "(due to temperature, location, etc…)" to both quickly and accurately state common situations that will differ based on the circumstances of death which can vary. Lastly, she explained well how the data was collected regarding microbes. Explaining the concept of the 'body farm' helps the reader get a better grasp of the situation.
However, there were some things that Maggie could have been improved on. Firstly, the review does it talk about ongoing studies being successful or unsuccessful, she just states that data is being collected. While data is important, it would help the reader grasp what stage this new science is and possibly how far it would be from being commonplace in the future. In addition, Maggie could have gone deeper into terms that we used in class such as Rigor Mortis, which can help estimate the time of death.
Overall, thanks to Maggie's review I learned a lot about the new concept of how Microbes can help us more accurately find the circumstances around a person's death. It will change my perception of how forensic science will continue to develop, as something already quite accurate such as Rigor Mortis can easily be replaced with new technology to get more accurate results.
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