Pollen nature’s tiny clues

(1) CSI and Pollen

Most might be surprised that pollen is being used to catch thieves, illegal drug dealers, murders, terrorists, and even catching those who commit less visible crimes such as making and selling fake prescription drugs. To many, pollen is that yellow stuff that bees collect, or the material plants need to complete fertilization and produce the seeds and fruits that most of us eat every day. Some people suffer from hay fever hate (2) pollen because it gives them watery eyes and runny noses. But, for biologists who specialize in pollen evidence, those microscopic pollen (3) grains are important (4) clues being used to catch crooks and murderers just like DNA, fingerprints, and gunpowder residue.

You might have never heard of pollen being used as important (5) evidence in court cases or the scientists that study pollen and spores called palynologists. And you probably didn’t know there were forensic palynologists out there trying to make the world safer by catching terrorists, murders, thieves, and drug dealers. The reason is that this is one of the newer (6) forensic techniques. Although it has been used effectively in some countries, such as New Zealand for several decades, and is now being used more frequently in other countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, it is still virtually unknown and unused in the United States.

But, why is pollen such a good tool for forensics?

Many types of pollen and spore-producing plants spread a large amount of these (7) palynomorphs into the air. Once in the air they are carried by air currents and eventually fall to the ground in a thin coating called «pollen rain». In some areas the amount of pollen and (8) spores that spread is so great that exposed land and water surfaces turn yellow from the pollen rain. And even though it is not an exact measurement of the types and amount of plant life and climate, this coating is a snapshot of the area and becomes its «pollen print». Pollen prints can then be used to identify and locate a region.

Pollen and spores are also (9) microscopic in size, and can become trapped on almost any type of surface. In fact, most pollen is so small it is invisible to our eyes without a magnifying tool like a microscope. Depending on the pollen grain you could fit thousands of them on the head of pin. So a person has no idea of all the pollen they have on their clothes. This makes it is almost impossible for a criminal to remove all evidence of pollen in their clothes and belongings. A forensic (10) palynologist can tell where the pollen or spores found at a crime scene or on a criminal came from and use them as evidence to link the suspect or an object to a crime scene.

Now if you think you can just wash your clothes or try some other method to get rid of any pollen, think again. Most pollen and spores are hard to destroy and they don't easily (11) decay. This means that pollen and spore evidence from a region or crime scene can remain intact for years, hundreds of years, or even thousands and millions of years! As long as the crime scene evidence is handled correctly and stored safely, years or decades later the trapped pollen and spores can still be recovered and used to assist investigators.

Tools for looking at pollen

There are nearly one-half million different plant species that produce either pollen or spores. Fortunately, each of these species produces pollen or spores that can be identified as coming from the parent plant. In many cases a light microscope similar to one you might have used in school is all that is needed to tell the difference between different pollen or spores. However, the differences in the pollen and spores of closely related species or even related genera may appear so similar that it takes very powerful microscopes to tell the difference between pollen types. In these situations palynologists use scanning electron microscopes (12) SEM or transmission electron microscopes (TEM).

The Future of Pollen

The study of pollen continues. Each day new samples are collected, examined, and cataloged for use in many different ways. Palynologists will continue to use pollen to solve crimes of today as well as solve mysteries of the past. Some palynologists and their knowledge of pollen and plants are part of the teams of scientists that learn about long dead civilizations as well as the exploring for oil. While others spend their time examining historical fine art paintings, or help to fight terrorism. As we learn more about pollen we will certainly expand how we use these tiny clues of Nature.

Task 9. Match the phrases with their Russian equivalents.

1. exposed land 2. to have no idea 3. to link something to something 4. to commit a crime 5. to be trapped 6. to get rid of 7. to be similar to

a) совершать преступление b) избавляться от чего-либо c) связывать что-либо с чем-либо d) обширная земля e) быть пойманным f) не иметь понятия g) быть подобным

Task 10. Complete the sentences using the verbs from the text «Pollen nature’s tiny clues» in the correct form (there are some letters to help you).

Example: The student has already …c… (completed)…… his laboratory experiment.

1. Sometimes being deeply depressed people c…… a suicide.

2. The criminals tried to f…… some documents.

3. This plant pr…… new equipment for chemical laboratories.

4. He’s got watery eyes and runny nose because he s…… from allergy.

5. My former classmate is a student of the faculty of Biology now and he s…… in genetics.

6. The disease sp…… very fast if it‘s not cured.

7. Young people should be polite to elderly ones. They should c…… their heavy bags.

8. Be careful! The instruments should be han…… correctly.

9. The patient r…… very quickly after the doctor had given him some medicine.

10. All the books in the library are electronically c…… that is very useful for the readers.

11. The scientists managed to s…… this problem.

12. Scientists work to ex…… their knowledge of the world.

13. Microbiologists ex…… tissue samples in their laboratories.

Task 11. Choose the correct answer.

1. What do palynologists study?

a) Spores c) Pollen

b) Spores and pollen d) Spores, dust and pollen

2. How long can pollen grains be used to solve crimes?

a) A week c) Hundreds of years

b) Thousands of years d) Millions of years

3. Which of these tools are used to identify pollen?

a) Light microscope

b) Scanning electron microscope (SEM)

c) Light and SEM microscope

d) All the above

4. Hay fever gets its name because most people are allergic to it.

a) True b) False

5. Which of the following use palynology as forensic evidence?

a) Homicide

b) Terrorism

c) Fake prescription drugs

d) Faked or forged documents or artwork

e) All of the above

Task 12. Challenge question.

What’s the difference between finger prints and pollen prints?