Bedbugs in Forensic Cases: Their Importance

Bedbugs (or bed bugs) are small, elusive, parasitic insects of the family Cimicidae. In common use, the term usually refers to one species, Cimex lectularius, that feeds preferentially on human blood

Bedbugs have been around for thousands of years; have a distinctive smell, unusual sex habits and strong immune systems; and are useful in CSI cases as the bloodsuckers are living repositories of DNA evidence.

Bloodsucking insects are useful for forensic science because human DNA can be extracted from the meals that the bugs have consumed. Scientists at Texas A&M and Virginia Tech have successfully been able to isolate human DNA from bed bugs. It's been amplified and sequenced, and the biological material is of sufficient quality that it can be used to identify individuals. Proof of principle came in a paper published in 2006 in the Journal of Agric. Urban Entomol. Engorged bed bugs were collected from a human volunteer and from field sites in New York and Texas. The scientists found that viable DNA was retrieved from those bed bug specimens that had been alcohol preserved, air dried, and frozen.

The big advantage that these creatures have over other bloodsucking bugs for forensic science is that they don't stay with the host. So if police are after a fugitive and believe he/she stayed at a particular location, they could examine the bed bugs - if there is an infestation - because they would still be in the room long after the suspect had fled.

Forensic Experts: Lost images of Ansel Adams found

Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park. One of his most famous photographs was Moon and Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California. :)

When antiques enthusiast Rick Norsigian of Fresno purchased dozens of glass negatives at a garage sale a decade ago, he had no idea he had stumbled upon images believed taken by Ansel Adams.
Not everybody is convinced the negatives are authentic.
Adams' grandson said Tuesday he was doubtful the images were shot by his late grandfather.
Even so, the skepticism did little to dampen Norsigian's excitement.
"It's kind of beyond words," Norsigian, 64, said Tuesday. "After 10 years of my life, trying to prove this and finding the people that were not afraid (to authenticate the images). This day has been long coming. It's just like a relief."
On Tuesday, Norsigian, a painter for the Fresno Unified School District, and his attorney presented the findings of a team of art and forensic experts that they say have authenticated 65 images among thousands considered lost by Adams in a 1937 darkroom fire.