The Impersonation Game

Following the horse meat incident in 2013, in 2015 the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) was established. “The NFCU is tasked with protecting consumers and the food industry from food crime within food supply chains”. It is clear that food crime is on the increase, so how is food fraud detected? This talk will explain how we, as food scientists, can detect the presence of unexpected additions to food through the analysis of DNA using the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR); the same technique used to detect COVID-19 infection and create DNA fingerprinting profiles in Forensic Science.

In this talk, Hannah will look at some of the curious contradictions that occur when famous people are caricatured on TV. If an impersonation is exaggerated to the point of grotesqueness, how do we still know who this person is, and why do we find it funny? And why might taking the mickey out of politicians on TV actually do them more good than harm?