Hair Samples in the SEM

An interesting phenomena that has fascinated Dr. Rose Finn and scientists around the world is this idea that we are made of corn. Now, I know what you might be thinking, "No way we are made of corn!" Obviously humans aren't literally made of corn, but corn is in almost every processed food. High Fructose Corn Syrup is the least expensive sweetener available and used in almost every manufactured food product that uses a sweetener. Therefore, our bodies are made up of a good percentage of corn/maize. Using the Scanning Electron Microscope, we plan on studying a number of hair samples where we can see the chemical composition of our hair. Hopefully, we will discover a direct correlation to our hair and corn. 

CORN!!!

Below is a link to a lab write-up of hair analysis on the SEM:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1142283?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

A brief summary of the article above is as follows. Hair identification under the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) has played a significant role in the field of forensic investigation. No two strands of hair are completely identical, so looking at hair samples under the SEM can be the difference in solving crimes and catching criminals. All types of hair can be examined under the SEM from all types of mammals that naturally grow hair. This includes head hair, pubic hair, and body hair. Some mammals grow hair in wave patterns, while others grow hair continuously. Mammals such as sheep and humans fall under this category of mammals that grow hair continuously. Of the 18 orders of mammals, all grow differently structured hair.
To study a hair sample there is a specific way to prepare a sample.Hair samples are mounted on metal stubs with either double-stick cellophane tape or conductive paint on the ends. The hairs are then metal vaporized with a thin-layer of aluminium, coating the sample with a featureless metal at a thickness of less than 200A, which is under the resolution of the SEM. The variability of human hair in each race is greater than the variability of hairs on a single individual's head. The dividing line between large and small hairs is about 95u. In this article there are Figures 1-7 that depict what different types of hairs look under the SEM. Overall, SEM research used in investigative crime studies is very important and would be really interesting to study in our own SAInT Center using our own SEM. First we would just need approval to study human hair samples.

Below is a link that tells us the essential elements in a piece of corn.
http://www.farmwest.com/node/941

Below are other useful links that are related to this topic:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/07/14/how-corn-made-its-way-into-just-about-everything-we-eat/?utm_term=.d9b31f5cc5ed

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4989398/

(We will post data collections of what we find once we get into the SAInT Center and take data)

Isn't that A(maize)ing! :)

What we will be using is a Hitachi SU1510 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM).

Things to do:
Test dog hair/ hair from Dr. McColgan's hair dresser (Cannot test Human Hair yet)