Case of the Missing

Pathogens
Anna Nickerson, Alexis Pring, Teagan
Lee, Olivia Cole, Grace Van Oort

Who Is Guilty?
Dr. Shirley Mo:
attacker

Dr. Ellis Island:

stole pathogens after
Donley was attacked

Motive
Dr. Mo

Holds a grudge against Dr. Donley because Donley keeps all the good
fermentation bacteria to herself.
Dr. Donleys brain is insured for 1 million dollars.

Dr. Ellis Island

Dr. Donley knew Dr. Islands immigration status and was blackmailing her
Has a crush on Dr. High, who had the eyes for Dr. Donleys twin, Duodenum,
and a confrontation took place the night of the party.

Evidence

Found Dr. Mos fingerprint on Dr. Donleys glass at the party

Dr. Shirley Mos blood type is 0+
O+ blood, not belonging to Donley, found underneath her fingernails from the
Physicians report
Dr. Island and Dr. Mos lip prints on the glass with Donleys
ELISA test positive that Dr. Island and Dr. Mo were exposed to the pathogens
O+ blood on the insurance document
Physicians report showed that in an attempt to poison Donley, the suspect
put cyanide in her purple drink
Dr. Mo was caught by the police with a stinky purple passion cocktail brew
that was for the party

Science Behind Evidence

Fingerprints: everyone has unique fingerprints due to

variations in fingertip patterns. These are taken with ink
and are stored in a database of criminals for future
reference.
Blood Type: there are type A and B antigens that can be
found on the surface of red blood cells. Each person has
one of four types of blood: A (only A on surface), B (only
B on surface), AB (A and B on surface), or O (nothing on
surface). When blood is donated or accepted it must be
of the same type. AB can accept any type though, and O
can be given to all.

Lip Prints: just like fingerprints, each persons is unique but harder to
differentiate.
ELISA Test: used to detect antibodies in the blood. Watch the process below:

Information on Pathogens
What is a pathogen?
A pathogen is a bacteria, virus, or a different microorganism that can cause a
disease. Each of the pathogens were viruses including Smallpox, HIV, and
Tuberculosis.

What is a virus?
A virus is classified by its shape also the fact that it is not a living organism, but
also not nonliving, putting t up for debate. A virus does not fit the criteria for a
cellular organism. The type of disease viruses cause depends on the shape of
their capsid- the type of nucleic acid (RNA or DNA), and whether or not there is
an envelope.

Smallpox

Highly contagious
Deadly virus
No cure or treatment
Eradicated from the Earth in the 1980s but small samples have been kept
for research
Samples pose a threat for biowarfare

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)

Gradually attacks the immune system

With an early diagnosis it can be treated, but not cured
Can be contracted by sexual intercourse, infected needles, childbirth and
breastfeeding
Cannot be contracted through sweat, saliva, or urine
AIDS occurs when HIV goes untreated, it is the last stage of HIV when the
body cant fight off any infections
Leads to death
Many diseases can be caused by AIDS such as TB

Tuberculosis (TB)

Infection that attacks the lungs and throat

Airborne
Can be cured with antibiotics that are taken over a six to nine month period
TB with HIV can be very hard to treat

The Science Behind DNA

Fingerprinting

Purposes of DNA
Fingerprinting

Crime scenes

Determine who was involved based

on DNA left behind

Used in court - determine guilty from

innocent more accurately

Identifying father

Test one persons DNA against

anothers to determine similarities

DNA test - compares 13 core

loci from each individual

Highly variable test = more

accurate results

How it Works

DNA Fingerprinting: Process of separating certain DNA

nucleotide sequences into fragment bands for analysis

1.

2.

Obtain DNA source

a.

Bodily fluids (i.e. blood and saliva), body tissue,

hair follicles

b.

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) used to

replicate DNA if source is limited in size

Cut DNA using restriction enzymes

a.

3.

Enzymes cut DNA at restriction sites,

resulting in different DNA fragment lengths

Separate DNA
a.

Agarose gel electrophoresis - separates

DNA according to size

b.

Electricity passed through gel & buffer

solution - DNA drawn towards positive side

c.

Smaller pieces travel farther creating

banded stained pattern in gel

Reading a DNA Fingerprint

An example of a DNA fingerprint

Restriction Fragment Length

Polymorphism (RELP) used to make this
banded pattern

DNA (negatively charged) is pulled toward

positive side when there is an electric current

Fragments separated by size creating bands

(smallest fragments travel furthest)

Blood stain (DNA at crime scene) matches

suspect John

Compelling evidence for court case

Data
Lambda/
Hindill size
marker

Lambda/
Hindill size
marker

Crime
Scene

Suspect
1

Suspect
2

Suspect
3

Suspect
4

Suspect
5

Band

Distance
(mm)

Actual Size
(bp)

Distance
(mm)

Distance
(mm)

Distance
(mm)

Distance
(mm)

Distance
(mm)

Distance
(mm)

11

23,130

19

21

21

19

21

21

13

9,416

20.5

23.5

25

20.5

29.5

24

15

6,557

32

30.5

28.5

32

18

4,361

23

2,322

24

2,027

29.5

Based on
our data
from the
DNA
fingerprint,
the DNA
from the
crime scene
matched
Suspect #3

ELISA Test
The ELISA test was positive for suspect 2 and 3, which
are Ellis and Shirley Mo respectively.
This means they were both exposed to the pathogens
and were therefore in Donleys office with the pathogens
or they stole them
Ellis was the offender who stole the pathogens after Mo
had broken into Donleys office and attacked her.

The Outcome
Dr. Shirly Mo and Dr. Ellis Island were both
arrested
Dr. Shirly Mo was convicted on charges of
battery and assault
Dr. Ellis Island was convicted of theft

Coroners Report

Blood not belonging to Dr. Donley was found on her hand and underneath
her nails
A faint scent of almond was apparent which means Dr. Donleys drink was
poisoned with cyanide. Luckily her drink was tipped over before she could
have any
Cyanide can shut down the electron transport chain causing one not to
make ATP and carry on normal functions

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