How Climate Change Could Complicate the Job of a Murder-solving Fly

How Climate Change Could Complicate the Job of a Murder-solving Fly

Top of Mind with Julie Rose - Radio Archive, Episode 966 , Segment 4

Episode: China, Sumo Wrestling, Sriracha, Blow flies

  • Dec 17, 2018 10:00 pm
  • 9:40 mins

Guest: Christine Picard, Associate Professor in the Biology Department and Forensic & Investigative Sciences Program, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. A blue-green insect with a killer sense of smell has long been a homicide detective’s best friend. Blow flies are a bit larger than your typical housefly, but they’re more particular when it comes to food. They find dead bodies within minutes and their larvae can help forensic scientists accurately estimate time of death. But rising temperatures in the U.S. are causing different species of blow flies to migrate to new areas – which could complicate future murder investigations.

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What's Better than an Antibiotic? A Virus That Kills Bacteria

22 MINS

Guest: Julianne Grose, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, BYU; Richard Robison, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, BYU; Mike Alder, Director, BYU, Technology Transfer Office BYU Unless we find a way to deal with antibiotic resistance, health experts predict that thirty years from now bacterial infections will be killing as many people as diabetes and cancer do. Inventing new antibiotics to tackle so-called superbugs that are resistant to the current arsenal is a top international health priority. Here at BYU, the focus is on finding viruses that kill deadly bacteria. Instead of pumping a patient full of antibiotics, doctors might instead pump that patient full of viruses – but nice ones.

Guest: Julianne Grose, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, BYU; Richard Robison, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, BYU; Mike Alder, Director, BYU, Technology Transfer Office BYU Unless we find a way to deal with antibiotic resistance, health experts predict that thirty years from now bacterial infections will be killing as many people as diabetes and cancer do. Inventing new antibiotics to tackle so-called superbugs that are resistant to the current arsenal is a top international health priority. Here at BYU, the focus is on finding viruses that kill deadly bacteria. Instead of pumping a patient full of antibiotics, doctors might instead pump that patient full of viruses – but nice ones.