Forty high school students gathered at the University of Maryland's College Park campus this summer to play with dolls—all in the name of serious science. During a weeklong course on forensic science, they heard experts explain the fine points of DNA fingerprinting, microscopic analysis, crime-scene and evidence preservation and ink chromatography. But the capstone was a session with a special set of dollhouses that simulate crime scenes. continued...

Photo: Molly Roberts

Download this story in Acrobat PDF format.
(requires Acrobat Reader)

Reprinted from the HHMI Bulletin,
December 2002, pages 40-41.
©2002 Howard Hughes Medical Institute