Use of Insects in Quantification of Drug Content in Corpses - Paper Example

Q1. Critically assess the controversy raging over the use of maggots to test concentration of substances found in the corpse. In your opinion can entomotoxicology be used to assess misuse of narcotics or not?

Ecotoxicology is the use of insects on decomposing corpses to determine and quantify the drugs which had been taken by the individual prior to their demise. As described by Campobasso (2004), as the maggots feed on the corpse, they consume the drugs available in the body, which can affect their growth or complicate their lifecycle. He describes how maggots from different corpses which had been proved to have different amounts of poisons such as morphine varied in their development cycle and general characteristics (Campobasso, 2004). However, these concentrations might vary among various insects through their life cycles due to genetic differences in processing of various drugs. This essay seeks to address the concern over whether arthropods can be used to quantify the number of drugs in corpses when an insufficient amount of tissue is available for better toxicological analysis.

Insects are sensitive to substances which are present in the body, depending on the drug concentrations (Campobasso, 2004). Secondly, their capacity to process the available drugs and develop against the concentration gradients depend on various other factors such as the climatic season, location of the corpse and the treatment it received. All these factors, therefore, have to be considered before gauging the concentration of a drug against a standard with regard to the growth exhibited. This is a qualitative method of post-mortem interval estimation though it cannot be relied on under the perceived circumstances. Quantitatively, Campobasso argues out that test results from the maggots and those from the tissue remnants revealed similar concentrations of drugs. This claim was further supported by other forensics such as Carvalho et al., (2004). However, this approach can only give an unreliable estimate when the corpse has been found at an advanced stage of decomposition. This is due to varying rates of drug metabolism and elimination by the arthropods during the feeding and post feeding stages in their life cycle (Greenberg, 1971). This difference in the course of development makes it difficult to conclusively settle on the right amount of drug on the corpse tissues.

According to Lehane, (2005), differences I physiology between human bodies and insects cause differences in drug distribution and process rigidity. He argues that if the body is recovered early enough, during the active stages of the insect lifecycle, the accurate amounts of dug in the corpse can be determined (Lehane, 2005). However, during such stages, this method may not be necessary. For later dates, extrapolations have to be made to the original results which cannot be accurate. The drug concentrations may not be linear as even the drug distribution in the corpse is not even. Some organs such as the liver contain higher amounts of poison than the rest, hence invalidating result extrapolation for accurate determination of the original concentration (Greenberg, 1973). Insect activity also accepts the rate at which it metabolizes and eliminates it. The excreted wastes such as feces from the insects will contain various amounts of the drug products which could not only affect the drug identification ad well ad quantification.

Conclusively, although arthropods can give an estimate of the drug quantities in the corpse, they cannot rely on as the ultimate method of drug determinations when there is insufficient body tissue for toxicological determination (Greenberg, 1973). There is not a predictable manner by which all insects behave in different climatic conditions, as there may be other influencing factors such as climate and body location (Gunatilake, and Goff, 1989). Lastly, various body parts have varying amounts of the drug under investigation, hence picking the insects to use for the correct drug determination may not be possible outside the laboratory environment. This method is therefore not sustainable in the routine forensic determination of drug content in a corpse.

Entomological Warfares

Q2. Discuss the potential role of insects as bioweapons is it a frightening reality, or a case of over-stimulated imagination? Is it really forensic?

Entomological warfare is a scary possibility in the terrorist-infested world of the twenty-first century. Insects can be a threat to the normal flow of life if their potential is appropriately tapped by the enemy. They can cause destruction, disease or distraction from other more serious attacks such as physical battles. Insect threat is easier to manage compared to microbiological attack, as microorganisms are more difficult to see, smell or even manage. Although it can be difficult to design and exploit, the concerned authorities should exploit every available resource to fight and thwart it, be it an actual attack or an actual event. This paper seeks to examine the possibility and threat of an entomological warfare in the modern world.

There are three ways by which arthropods can be used as biological weapons; first, they can be infected with disease agents such as bacteria or viruses which they can take to the human targets. Secondly, the arthropods can be used to attack crops and animals so that the targeted population can suffer either financial loss or hunger. The insects could either directly feed on the crops such as grasshoppers and butterflies, or cause an infection to the crops (vectors). Thirdly, the insects could be used to directly torment the targeted population such as bees, wasps and other biting and stinging insects (Lengel, 2005). They could attack the local people and drive them out of their dwelling places, This is equally threatening just as disease conditions hence it should be prevented in order to preserve family bonds.

There are historical instances where entomological warfare was suspected in various incidences. The 14th century epidemic in Asia commonly known as the Black Death is suspected to be in this category. Bubonic plague which caused this mass death is transmitted by a flea. The plague spread over Europe as a biological attack on the Crimean city of Kaffa (Lockwood, 2007). This is one of the earliest disease outbreaks in microbiological history, which can be redesigned by terrorists or other attackers to cause more fatalities to the human victims. Secondly, During the American Civil War, the Union was accused of intentionally introducing the harlequin bug to enemy camps in the south to distract them from preparations for war and their normal lives (Lockwood, 2007). This is believed to have given the Union unfair privilege over the Confederacy.

The modern advances in genetic engineering have made it possible for entomologists to design insects that can cause great damage to crops and livestock. For example, CRISPR technology can be used to create genetically modified "Killer Mosquitos", which cause plagues with a capability of wiping out staple crops and cause hunger. It is possible to design other agent s which could cause even more damage to the targeted population. For example, during the cold war, the United States Army designed a laboratory that could produce 100 million mosquitos infected with Yellow fever virus (Lockwood, 2007). The army tested the impact of this warfare by dropping uninfected mosquitos over its cities such as New York. There was no Yellow fever, but up to 92% of the residents in the targeted cities were attacked by the mosquitos (Lockwood, 2007). This, therefore, proved to be biologically risky and capable of causing a lot of distress to the victim. It was tested by the best and was observed to be a great risk if it falls into the wrong hands.

Conclusively, entomological warfare in the modern world is a far more serious than a mere scare to the local population. Insects spread fast without control and can either cause great destruction or transmit infections to either people, livestock or crops. Other insects such as locusts mechanically destroy the crops by cutting the buds, leaves, flowers and even fruits. Entomological agents can also be designed to cause infections in people such as hemorrhagic fevers, including Yellow Fever and Marburg, which can cause great mortality and morbidity within a short time. The risk is therefore beyond a scare as it has been done in history by various groups and caused different devastating results, most of which are very fatal. If one thinks that entomological warfare is just a scare, they should refer to the Black Death, as that was centuries ago, it caused a lot of death to the society. Entomological warfare is practically applicable in the modern warfare, hence it should be well monitored.

Bibliography

Campobasso C.P., Gherardi, M., Caligara, M., Sironi, L. and Introna, F. 2004. Drug analysis in blowfly larvae and in human tissues: a comparative study. International Journal of Legal Medicine 118: 210 - 214.

Greenberg, B. 1971. Flies and disease. Vol. I Ecology, classification and biotic associations. Princeton University Press, New Jersey. 856pp.

Greenberg, B. 1973. Flies and disease. Vol. II Biology and disease transmission. Princeton University Press, New Jersey. 447pp.

Gunatilake, K. and Goff, M.L. 1989. Detection of organophosphate poisoning in a putrefying body by analyzing arthropod larvae. Journal of Forensic Sciences 43: 714 716.

Lehane, M. 2005. The biology of blood-sucking in insects. 2nd Ed. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 321pp.

Lengel, B. 2005. Little Progress In FBI Probe of Anthrax Attacks Internal Report Compiled As Agents Hope for a Break Washington Post Friday, September 16, 2005; Page A01.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/15/AR2005091502456.html

Lockwood, J.A. 2007. Bug bomb: Why our next terrorist attack could come on six legs. The Boston Globe, Saturday, October 21, 2007. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/10/21/bug_bomb/