They are creatures most would shoo away, but the common blowfly is a beneficial ally for forensic investigators in solving modern crime.
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Forensic biologist Annalisa Durdle's ground-breaking research uncovered that as flies feed on human biological matter their faeces and regurgitate can be an invaluable resource to recover DNA evidence.
At her upcoming talk at Canberra's Shine Dome on March 3, the New Zealand-born scientist's wicked sense of humour will ensure any poo-jokes or taboos about rotting flesh and bodily fluids are cast aside, to make way for some fascinating facts about fly faeces.
Dr Durdle said simply responding when people asked what she did for work had led to plenty of livley conversations, but she never tired of the reactions to her hands-on and quirky PhD research topic.
"It's a great conversation starter at a pub," she said.
"I don't take myself too seriously.
"I want people who come along to say afterward 'I saw this really odd talk about fly poo, who would have thought?' and hopefully it gets them thinking."
Delighted "to share the fly poo love", Dr Durdle said her studies had a serendipitous start.
During 2007 she was undertaking a masters' course in forensic science at Auckland University and had taken a job cleaning the New Zealand government forensic labs to support her research.
After studiously using chemical agents to clean surfaces and ultraviolet light to destroy any residual DNA at night, she noticed each morning pesky flies had still made their way into the labs.
She thought if the insect invaders carried DNA this could pose a problem for the sterile lab and it was then her insatiable interest in the diet of blowflies began.
Through her research, Dr Durdle tested which of blood, semen and saliva, flies found most appealing.
"Flies absolutely love semen," she said.
"It's pathetic to watch, they gorge on it, they get drunk and then it kills them.
"The flies always ate a variety but semen was most popular, saliva not at all, and blood was kind of in the middle."
Dr Durdle said examining "fly artefacts" of less than 1 millimetres provided useful information about DNA at a given crime scene but, as flies were on the move, it didn't establish where the DNA came from.
"It may actually be the fly has got the blood or semen from a different location and brought it into a crime scene," she said.
For event details head to science.org.au/events/fly-wall-solving-crime-fly-poo
