Ricki Lewis

On May 14, a man walking along the shore on Gabriola Island in British Columbia came upon a washed-up human foot enmeshed in a tangle of logs, the appendage still in a hiking boot. It was the thirteenth disembodied foot found in the Pacific Northwest since 2007, twelve in running shoes.

Could DNA testing predict faces to go with the mysterious floating feet? A new genetic test might help — it can deduce hair, eye, and skin color from forensic or anthropological evidence. Read More 

Investigating a mass murder initially looks for obvious triggers in a criminal’s life, then more subtle signs, then psychiatric explanations or a brain tumor. But can errant genes help push someone to bomb marathon runners, gun down elementary school children, set a nightclub afire or rain bullets down on concert-goers?

We still don’t know what drove Stephen Paddock to meticulously plan and carry out the Las Vegas massacre on October 1. He took anti-anxiety medicine and his father was a bank robber. But robbing banks isn’t an inherited trait and millions of people take anti-anxiety medication. But could a hint of what was to come have been found in his genes? Read More