Scientists have found a new way to look into the eyes, and tell exactly the date of birth. Now, Scientists at the Universities of Copenhagen and Aarhus reported that scientists can with relatively high precision, determine when a person was born, by measuring the amount of the carbon isotope C-14 trapped in the eye lens. It is a useful tool for forensic scientists with which to date an unidentified body.
The age measurement method comes as an unusual byproduct of atomic weapons tests that took place in the atmosphere half a century ago. The carbon isotope that the explosions produced has declined year by year, providing a kind of watch to determine a victim’s birth dates by looking into the lens of the eye.
As a result, This technique only works for people born after 1950 and will only be valid until levels of the carbon isotopes have returned to normal—probably 100 years.
The reason that the isotope level can be used this way is that it is incorporated into the body in the first two years of life to build tiny transparent proteins, which allow light to pass through the eye so that we can see. These special proteins, known as lens crystalline, remains essentially unchanged for the rest of our lives and is the only tissue in the human body.
By comparing the yearly record of the content of the C-14 in the atmosphere with the content of C-14 in the lens crystalline of the eye, scientists can accurately date a person’s year of birth.
Scientists also revealed that this method is extremely accurate, and also has other applications: It can be used to study when certain tissues are generated or regenerated. This could, for example, be applied to cancer tissue and cancer cells.
As Associate Professor Niels Lynnerup from the Department of Forensic Sciences explains: “Calculating the amount of C-14 in these tissues could tell us when the cancerous tissue is formed and this could further our understanding of such diseases”.
Therefore, scientists will not be able only to look into the eyes of an unidentified corpse to tell the year that the victim was born, but this great method will help them also to find other uses, such as tracking down the source of tumors in the body or even studying how organs are regenerated.
If you liked my post, feel free to subscribe to my rss feeds
