Your Smartphone Holds More Secrets Than You Know

Guest: Pieter Dorrestein, PhD, Professor in the School of Medicine, UC San Diego, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences There’s a scene early in the BBC TV series Sherlock where Sherlock Holmes deduces pretty much all of John Watson’s personal and family secrets just by looking at the scuff marks on his cell phone. It’s a fun, fanciful exchange. But chemists at the University of California San Diego’s Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences could give Sherlock a run for his money. By swabbing a cell phone, they can tell what you eat, what your wear and even what medicine you take.