hair

Head Tilt Mouse

Ever since Mario Capecchi, Martin Evans, and Oliver Smithies created the first knockout mouse in 1989, genetically engineered animals have steadily increased in popularity for all kinds of biology research: simply pick a gene, turn it off in the mouse, and see what happens.

The legal profession has a term for the way juries regard forensic science--they call it the "CSI Effect." Juries expect to see nothing less than DNA matching for even the most minor infractions. If the forensic evidence isn't overwhelming, they will acquit, even in the face of reasonable doubt. Without question, the CSI and Law and Order franchises have reshaped the popular imagination by elevating science as the ultimate arbiter of truth. That, in and of itself, is good for science. What's dangerous about the proposition, however, are the standards and lengths to which the television shows hold the science they portray.

While it's undoubtedly important for people to know what's fact and what's fiction in crime scene investigation, here’s a look into just what the present day facts of forensics science entail (we’ll leave the fiction to the experts… in TV production, that is). In 2005, Congress tasked the National Academy of Sciences to survey the landscape of forensic science. The result, this past February, was a 255-page report. Here are a few of the surprising facts they found.

A scourge has afflicted mankind for eons. It is a harsh genetic disease, mercilessly attacking generation after generation. It is baldness. There was a time when the only cure for this affliction hawked on late night TV was Ron Popeil's Hair In a Can. Look how far we've come. Nowadays, the undisputed heavyweight champion of baldness cure commercials is Bosley's hair "restoration" (read: transplantation) surgery system. Sure, Bosley has celebrity endorsements from megawatt superstars like American Idol reject Matt Rogers, but does it really work? And if so, how?