Malaysian Scientists Turn Bedbugs into Crime Scene Spies
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Malaysian scientists are turning bedbugs, one of the world’s most hated household pests, into crime-fighting “detectives” or “witnesses” of sorts.
Researchers at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang have discovered that tropical bedbugs can retain human DNA for up to 45 days after feeding.
From a forensic POV, it’s almost a silver bullet
Bedbugs often hide in the dark crevices of headboards and in the tiny seams of mattresses, and they could actually help investigators identify both victims and suspects in a crime.
“We call bedbugs the musuh dalam selimut (Malay for ‘the enemy in the blanket’),” says entomologist Abdul Hafiz Ab Majid. “They can also be spies.”
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