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Science Friday > Archives > 2002 >
April
> April 19, 2002:
Hour Two: Atrazine & Frogs / Forensic Scientist Henry Lee
Lately, forensic science -- the application of science to legal proceedings
-- has become cool. Popular dramas such as 'CSI,' as well as countless
hours of documentary television, have made the public more aware of
the tools and techniques investigators use in their hunt for clues at
crime scenes. In this hour of Science Friday, we'll talk with renowned
forensic scientist Henry Lee.
Lee has been a consultant for over 300 police and law enforcement agencies,
and an expert witness in many high profile cases for both the prosecution
and the defense. He's been involved with cases including the O.J. Simpson
murder trial, the Jon Benet Ramsey investigation, and war crimes cases
in Bosnia. We'll hear about his life, work, and the science behind cracking
cases.
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Plus, we'll find out about new research published this week suggesting
a link between the common weed killer atrazine and strange sexual
characteristics in frogs. Atrazine is an herbicide, used mainly
for the control of broad-leafed and grassy weeds. It's used heavily
in agricultural areas, particularly for weed control in corn fields.
Though its use is somewhat restricted, atrazine ranks as one of
the most widely used pesticides in the country.
The EPA has defined a 'safe level' of atrazine in drinking water
of to be 3 parts per billion. In research published this week
in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, however,
researchers report finding altered sexual characteristics in frogs
exposed to as little as 0.1 ppb of atrazine. We'll find out more.
At right: Abnormal gonads in a male Xenopus
frog, the result of exposure to the herbicide atrazine. The frog
has become a hermaphrodite -- that is, it has both male (testes)
and female (ovaries) sex organs. Credit: Tyrone Hayes/UC Berkeley,
courtesy PNAS
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required).
Guests:
Tyrone Hayes
Developmental Endocrinologist
Laboratory for Integrative Studies in Amphibian Biology
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
Associate Professor, Integrative Biology
Department of Integrative Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Henry Lee
Chief Emeritus,
Scientific Services and Former Commissioner of Public Safety, State
of Connecticut
Chief Criminalist,
State of Connecticut 1979-2000
Author
with Thomas O'Neil, "Cracking Cases: The Science of Solving Crimes"
(Prometheus, 2002)
Meriden, Connecticut
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
ABCNEWS.com
: Study: A Common Pesticide Feminizes Frogs
CNN.com
- Pesticide blamed for sexual mutation in frogs - April 16, 2002
AmphibiaWeb
Atrazine
exposure disturbs frogs' sexual development
NARCAM
Henry
C. Lee Interview about forensic science by Katherine Ramsland
Henry
C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science
ABCNEWS.com
: Forensic Scientist's Search For Hidden Truths
The
Scientist - Forensic Scientist Henry Chang-Yu Lee
REDDY'S
FORENSIC HOME PAGE
This segment produced by: Annette Heist
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