In the very near future, mosquitos are going to become the police's greatest asset in capturing criminals. They will reveal the identity of the perpetrators up to 48 hours after a crime has been committed.
When a mosquito bites a criminal, their identity will be revealed via DNA analysis of its blood. Currently, this method is not much more than a goal that scientists from Nagoya University in Japan are aiming for.
Researchers have demonstrated how to analyze the DNA from the blood sucked by a mosquito up to 48 hours after a bite. They are convinced that in the future this technique will provide investigators the proof they need to convict a suspect.
This is a scientific precedent. Until now, it was unclear for how after a bite the blood obtained by a mosquito would be usable to read the DNA contained therein. Japanese scientists, working with forensics experts, conducted the experiment. They used volunteers who were bitten by mosquitos. They then extracted and magnified the small fragment of DNA, found in the blood sucked by the mosquito, thousands of times over. In so doing, they were able to correctly identify each of the volunteers up to 2 days after the bite.
The researchers' next step is to find out whether they can determine when exactly the bite occurred. To do this, they will be conducting a series of new tests and experiments.
To make sure their research is successful, a crucial factor will be for the mosquitos to fly only within a radius no further than a few hundred yards. It also depends on the species of mosquitos. Different species live anywhere from several months to 2 years. Still, scientists are convinced that they will be able to apply their theory in practice and one day mosquitos will help capture criminals.
