Introduction
In this project we solved a murder mystery case. We started off with the crime report about a guy named Carelton Comet a mysterious man that was just released from prison. He was murdered on October 26, 2016 with a large steak knife lodged in this back. There was two types of blood on the knife one belonging to the murder and the other to Carleton Comet. There was also a note saying “You are a dead man”, fingerprints found on a piece of glass at the crime scene, and a piece of hair found on the murder weapon. We used all this evidence and to extract important information to prove who was the murder. We used antigens to figure out which blood type each sample was and matched the crime scene and suspects’ blood. We used gel electrophoresis to further identify who the blood belonged to. We also found who the fingerprint belonged to by putting fingerprint powder on the fingerprint/slide and using tape to pick up the powder fingerprint and taped it onto our paper, and matching it to the one on the knife.We used chromatography to match the pen used for the note to a pen owned by the suspects. Lastly we used karyotyping to see who had a chromosome disorder that matched the crime scene. In this case we found Nancy Normal guilty of first degree murder because all the evidence pointed to her. We presented our case on February 7 and got the warrant to arrest her and search her house.
Concepts
DNA - carrier of genetic information, present in all living organisms ( We found DNA at the crime scene, and used it in blood typing, DNA fingerprinting, karyotyping, and gel electrophoresis)
Pedigree - a diagram showing the genealogy of an individual and their ancestors to follow a specific trait or disease (we used a pedigree we made from the family stories to find out if the suspects could have Huntington's disease or Marfan's syndrome, and what the relation was to Thomas Sandstone)
Gel electrophoresis - inserting DNA samples with dye into an agarose gel wells and charging the gel with electricity, the DNA moves to the positively charged side since it is negatively charged, the DNA is then displayed in size and color order based on how it moved through the gel, these arrangements allow you to easily tell which DNA samples matched to the crime scenes (Nancy Normal's matched to CS2 and Carleton Comet and Sam Sophomore matched to CS1)
Blood Typing - using anti-serums to figure out the blood type of blood samples. When it clumps with anti-A = Type A, anti-B = B, anti-A and anti-B = Type AB, neither = Type O. The bloods on the knife found at the crime scene had type O and type A. (FF, SS, and CC had type O and TT, GG, and NN had type A, )
DNA Fingerprinting - DNA samples found at the crime scene are compared with the suspects DNA to find a match (We took the DNA found in the blood to figure out who's blood it was (the blood from Crime Scene 1 matched CC and SS, and the blood from Crime Scene 2 matched NN)
Karyotype - aligning an organism's chromosomes by size and number (We matched the suspects to the crime scenes by looking for any chromosomal diseases. It matched NN disease. )
Fingerprinting - each person has a own unique fingerprint with one of the three types of fingerprints which are whorl, loop, or arch (we used the fingerprint from the crime scene and compared it to the suspects and NN matched the one found at the crime scene)
Chromatography -the separation of a mixture by passing it in solution or suspension or as a vapor through a medium in which the components move at different rates. (we used chromatography on 3 different pens that belonged to the different suspects and compared the length, shape, color, and retention factor to the one used on the death note to find the match. It matched NN pen)
Complete dominant: A form of dominance wherein the dominant allele completely masks the effect of the recessive allele in heterozygous condition. ( this is important because both diseases in the pedigree were complete dominant which meant if the suspect parent had it, the suspect probably had it)
First Degree Murder: An unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated, meaning that it was committed after planning or "lying in wait" for the victim ( this is what we accused NN of doing)
Pedigree - a diagram showing the genealogy of an individual and their ancestors to follow a specific trait or disease (we used a pedigree we made from the family stories to find out if the suspects could have Huntington's disease or Marfan's syndrome, and what the relation was to Thomas Sandstone)
Gel electrophoresis - inserting DNA samples with dye into an agarose gel wells and charging the gel with electricity, the DNA moves to the positively charged side since it is negatively charged, the DNA is then displayed in size and color order based on how it moved through the gel, these arrangements allow you to easily tell which DNA samples matched to the crime scenes (Nancy Normal's matched to CS2 and Carleton Comet and Sam Sophomore matched to CS1)
Blood Typing - using anti-serums to figure out the blood type of blood samples. When it clumps with anti-A = Type A, anti-B = B, anti-A and anti-B = Type AB, neither = Type O. The bloods on the knife found at the crime scene had type O and type A. (FF, SS, and CC had type O and TT, GG, and NN had type A, )
DNA Fingerprinting - DNA samples found at the crime scene are compared with the suspects DNA to find a match (We took the DNA found in the blood to figure out who's blood it was (the blood from Crime Scene 1 matched CC and SS, and the blood from Crime Scene 2 matched NN)
Karyotype - aligning an organism's chromosomes by size and number (We matched the suspects to the crime scenes by looking for any chromosomal diseases. It matched NN disease. )
Fingerprinting - each person has a own unique fingerprint with one of the three types of fingerprints which are whorl, loop, or arch (we used the fingerprint from the crime scene and compared it to the suspects and NN matched the one found at the crime scene)
Chromatography -the separation of a mixture by passing it in solution or suspension or as a vapor through a medium in which the components move at different rates. (we used chromatography on 3 different pens that belonged to the different suspects and compared the length, shape, color, and retention factor to the one used on the death note to find the match. It matched NN pen)
Complete dominant: A form of dominance wherein the dominant allele completely masks the effect of the recessive allele in heterozygous condition. ( this is important because both diseases in the pedigree were complete dominant which meant if the suspect parent had it, the suspect probably had it)
First Degree Murder: An unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated, meaning that it was committed after planning or "lying in wait" for the victim ( this is what we accused NN of doing)
Reflection
This project had a lot of data collecting and analyzing, which I found pretty fun. We worked together as a team in this project. When Karyotyping we all cut out the chromosomes together. Same thing happened when finding the fingerprint, we all took turns dusting it . Not everything was perfect though, we struggled with finding the motive of Nancy. We at first thought she killed Carleton Comet for Fred Flimmer, because Carleton Comet killed Fred Flimmer's wife and family. Later we realized that Carleton Comet actually was with Nancy Normal's aunt and caused her to go into deep depression, so we changed Nancy's motive because the latter motive made more sense for her to kill Carleton Comet. Other than that this project went really well.
Some skills I have acquired from building this project was how to analyze evidence. At first when looking at the fingerprints we found at the crime scene I thought they were Fred Flimmer's but after carefully analyzing it again i realized they were Nancy's. Another thing I learned was how to fingerprint. I had never known how to do it until this project. I learned how to dust it with the black powder properly and to preserve it by putting it on tape and taping it to a white paper.
Some things that I could have done better, and that I will continue working on are staying a bit more focused, and memorizing what to say on the presentation. Sometimes during the project I would go over to my friends project and talk to her and about her project instead of doing something for our project. Next time I will try to limit my talking time with her and focus more on the project. During the presentation I looked on my lines for the presentation and barely looked up. Next time I will memories and look at my fellow students when presenting. Overall this project was a great experience where I learned things about myself and the science concepts.
Some skills I have acquired from building this project was how to analyze evidence. At first when looking at the fingerprints we found at the crime scene I thought they were Fred Flimmer's but after carefully analyzing it again i realized they were Nancy's. Another thing I learned was how to fingerprint. I had never known how to do it until this project. I learned how to dust it with the black powder properly and to preserve it by putting it on tape and taping it to a white paper.
Some things that I could have done better, and that I will continue working on are staying a bit more focused, and memorizing what to say on the presentation. Sometimes during the project I would go over to my friends project and talk to her and about her project instead of doing something for our project. Next time I will try to limit my talking time with her and focus more on the project. During the presentation I looked on my lines for the presentation and barely looked up. Next time I will memories and look at my fellow students when presenting. Overall this project was a great experience where I learned things about myself and the science concepts.