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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This will just take a minute.
You've seen it on TV. Crime scene investigators1 show up at what might be a murder scene. There are blood spatters—but no body. Who's the victim? Now, a new technique developed in the Netherlands might help real-world investigators establish the age of the victim using only blood. The research was published in the journal Current Biology. Usually, age is determined2 by physical characteristics, such as teeth or bones. Great—if you have a body. Researchers have tried unsuccessfully to use blood. But in this study, the scientists used immune cells called T-cells. T-cells recognize invaders3 through receptors that match molecules5 on bacteria, viruses, even tumors. The cellular6 activity that produces these receptors also produces a type of circular DNA7 molecule4 as a by-product8.
The number of these receptor by-products declines regularly over time. So scientists devised a test to measure the molecules—and use that to infer someone's age based on his or her blood. The results appear to be accurate to within plus or minus nine years. So forensic9 scientists could use a bloodstain to narrow a victim's age to within two decades. That's a big range—but it could help solve crimes when the victims can't be found.
Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Cynthia Graber.
1 investigators | |
n.调查者,审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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2 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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3 invaders | |
入侵者,侵略者,侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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4 molecule | |
n.分子,克分子 | |
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5 molecules | |
分子( molecule的名词复数 ) | |
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6 cellular | |
adj.移动的;细胞的,由细胞组成的 | |
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7 DNA | |
(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸 | |
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8 by-product | |
n.副产品,附带产生的结果 | |
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9 forensic | |
adj.法庭的,雄辩的 | |
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