Bright Ideas

• North Carolina State University scientists, in a "proof of concept" study published in March, claim they have found a promising alternative for eliminating certain infections -- even when no known antibiotic will work. The solution, the researchers write, is to genetically modify maggots (which are well-known to feed naturally off of infected tissue) to gobble up the infections and release, as "waste," human growth hormone (as they showed in the study could be done with a strain of green bottle fly maggots). [Science Daily, 3-23-2016]

• Felicia Burl, 33, who crashed her car (killing her passenger) after running a red light, fled on foot and later tried to foil DNA evidence against her to avoid charges. While in lockup, Burl, with a 29-conviction rap sheet, knew a mouth swab was upcoming and tried to contaminate it by -- as police later learned -- having two other women spit into her mouth just before the test. She was convicted anyway, and a court in Stamford, Connecticut, is expected to order a 10-year sentence at Burl's next hearing. [Stamford Advocate, 3-15-2016]