An unlikelycollaborationbetween AV’s and the newoutdoorForensic Science Research and Training Laboratory couldyieldcriticaladvances in forensic science.
Mason teams froma number ofdifferent fields are working in unison at the Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, Virginia, on an ambitious project to see if the honey produced by bees after feeding on flowers can help them better locate missing persons.
Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications
Proteins in bee honey contain biochemical information about what the bees have fed upon. That information has previously been used to detect the chemical signature of pesticides in honey, allowing observers to deduce what specific types of pesticides were being used within the five-mile radius from the hives that honey bees typically frequent.
Similarly, O’Toole and her teambelievethat volatile organic compounds(VOCs)of human decomposition might likewise be found in bee honey, allowing authorities to then triangulatewhere missing human remains might be located.That ability could ultimatelyhelpsparegrieving families additional extended angstwhile also savingthousands ofhoursin the search for a missing person.
“If we can determine what the VOCs are for humans and differentiate that from other animals, we could then use the bees and their honey as sentinels,and, hopefully, find missing personsand solve cases,” said, an associate professor offorensic science.
Their belief is based on the premise thatflowering plants near dead bodies will uptake the VOCsbefore being fed upon by the bees and ultimately being deposited in theirhoney.
, an associate professor within Mason’s(CAPMM), has perfected amethod toextract proteinsfrom the honey. She and, a University Professor and CAPMM co-founder and co-director,have been involved with the project from the outset,following the idea’s origins at one of the monthly research meetings with the Forensic Science Program.
Honeybeesare very specific in the kinds of flowers to which they’re attracted.Doni Nolan, Mason’s Greenhouse and Gardens sustainability program manager from thewithin the, applied her expertise to the project, choosing the right flowers to plant within the specific one-acre section of the newly opened Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory that will house the remains of human donors in a heavily wooded area. The honey beehive on the SciTech Campus is located several hundred yards away from the Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory.
In November, students and researchers planted several different species of plants, which bear highly scented white and yellow blossoms, near the spots where the human remains will soon be displayed. Additional plants native to this area will be planted in the spring before the first honey samples are examined, Nolan said.
“You’re trying to see if the honey and the bees can help us find a body and solve a homicide,” said Nolan, who has a biology degree from Mason and is working on a PhD in biosciences.
Thefive-acre,Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory openedin early 2021, making Mason just the eighth location in the world capable of performing transformative outdoor research in forensic science using human donorsand the only one in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Donation of human remains to the research facility will come through the Virginia State Anatomical Program (VSAP),which isa part of the Virginia Department of Health.Goto learn more about donating your body to science.
Masonalso entered apartnership with FARO Technologies, Inc.that resulted in the world’s first FARO-certified forensiclaboratory.
In addition to those in the Forensic Science Program, the multidisciplinary project also includes the caretakers of the honey bees, as well as researchers and students from CAPMM, as well as from the within the College of Science and, all of whom helped select the plants for the research design.