#CSINDB Investigation – The Mysterious Case of Bob Bacon

The CSI NDB Investigation was a project like no other! When we began planning the scenario out for our pig, Bob Bacon, I had the impression that this project would be incredibly hard to work on – after all, we had to create a back story and plan the scientific aspects of the mystery correctly, all from our own imaginations. As our project and the Mysterious Case of Bob Bacon developed, we were able to see the huge extent and range of our imaginations while planning out the scenarios. My group was assigned to create a mystery revolving around the immune system. Through collective group efforts, we planned out various ways to add twists to our plot, yet give essential clues to the case at the same time.

The rest of our class acted as the investigators of the case, while each individual in my group set up a different station at each lab table, assisting the investigators in the mystery. Each individual in the immune system group and each lab table were dedicated to giving information about a specific suspect in the death of Bob Bacon. Bob Bacon was a scientist, living in a gated community with other scientists (some of which were the suspects). Several years ago, Bob had taken all the credit for discovering the cure for Cleft Snout Disorder and had neglected to acknowledge the other scientists in his research group. The scientists all had motive to kill him, and the investigation is meant to identify which scientist, if any, is responsible for Bob’s death. We gave the investigators the medical history and autopsy report of Bob Bacon, and they rotated around lab tables to understand the stories of each suspect.

Overall, the suspects were narrowed down to a scientist who had given Bob Bacon HIV via blood transfusion 10 years prior; however, our immune system group pointed out that HIV cannot directly kill someone. The class reasoned that the HIV in Bob had progressed to AIDs, and that his immune system was compromised. After learning more about the toxoplasmosis diagnosis of Bob’s cat, the class further discovered that, due to Bob’s compromised immune system, he had become extremely vulnerable to the toxoplasmosis parasite transferred to him when he was cleaning up his cat’s feces (the eggs of the parasite were in the feces). Due to this realization, the class was able to identify that the immune system was the body system involved in the mystery.

An image representing the immune system defending the body.

By doing this project, our Immune system group discovered more about our capabilities and the extent of our imagination as we created a scenario from scratch. This CSI NDB investigation was one of the most interactive, fun projects I’ve done (and participated in), and I definitely think that the AP Bio classes in the future will enjoy it as well! I loved collaborating with my group mates to create a one-of-a-kind mystery for others to solve.

Click here to see the Google slides presentation that my group and I created about the Immune System!