Stephen Macko: The Hair Detective

Among the dinosaur bones and 4.5-billion-year-old meteorites on the shelves of Stephen Macko's office are tiny plastic containers that hold hair samples from the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, George Washington, Oetzi the iceman and Diane Sawyer.

An odd assembly, perhaps, but locked within each strand are clues about appetites both ancient and modern. Hair functions as a nuanced physical record of diet over time, "much like a tape recording," says Macko, a U.Va. professor of environmental sciences. He applies the tools of organic chemistry to solve mysteries in fields as diverse as anthropology, nutrition and agricultural policy. How did the lifestyles of ancient Egyptian nobility differ from the lower classes? How accurate are the ingredient lists on product labels? Did Poe's peculiar poetry arise from pollutants in the air he was breathing? Do Americans eat too much corn?

For full article go to http://www.uvamagazine.org/site/c.esJNK1PIJrH/b.4101969/

Category:

Education

Tags:

• UVA
• University
• Virginia
• Stephen
• Macko
• Isotopes
• King
• Corn
• Hair
• George
• Washington
• Research

[savethenutella]

macko is the man

i love him