{{short description|Mexican activist, biologist, teacher}} '''Becky Bios''' is the pseudonym of a Mexican activist, biologist and teacher. She survived attempted murder by her then-partner and is now known as the creator of an inexpensive, homemade forensic kit that can help identify a victim who has gone missing. After surviving her own attack, she changed her identity and assumed the pseudonym Becky Bios for her own protection.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Rodríguez |first=Andrés |date=2025-04-20 |title=Huellas dactilares, pelo y uñas: un polémico kit forense para facilitar la búsqueda de los desaparecidos en México |url=https://elpais.com/mexico/2025-04-20/huellas-dactilares-pelo-y-unas-un-polemico-kit-forense-para-facilitar-la-busqueda-de-los-desaparecidos-en-mexico.html |access-date=2025-10-24 |website=El País México |language=es-MX}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
== Attempted murder == On 8 June 2015, she was the victim of an attempted femicide at the hands of her then-partner, a systems engineer, who severely beat her when she packed her bags to leave him after experiencing domestic and sexual violence.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=adnoticiasedomex |date=2021-11-03 |title=Becky, sobreviviente de feminicidio, se viste de catrina: «el Edomex me debe mucho» |url=https://adnoticias.mx/becky-sobreviviente-de-feminicidio-se-viste-de-catrina-el-edomex-me-debe-mucho/ |access-date=2025-10-25 |website=AD Noticias |language=es}}</ref> She woke up from two weeks in a coma, hospitalized and connected to an endotracheal tube that allowed her to breathe. From that moment on, she assumed a new name, Becky Bios. She had to undergo rehabilitation therapy for a year to be able to walk again and the after-effects of the attack still cause her to limp, forget words and suffer from anxiety.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Demos |first=Editorial |last2=García |first2=César Arellano |date=2022-03-07 |title=La Jornada - Becky Bios creó redes de apoyo tras sufrir un intento de feminicidio |url=https://www.jornada.com.mx/notas/2022/03/07/politica/becky-bios-creo-redes-de-apoyo-tras-sufrir-un-intento-de-feminicidio/ |access-date=2025-10-24 |website=www.jornada.com.mx |language=es}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=libresorganizacion |date=2025-06-24 |title=Becky Bios y su kit forense: Ciencia, resistencia y esperanza en un país donde las autoridades no te buscan |url=https://proyectolibres.org/2025/06/becky-bios-y-su-kit-forense/ |access-date=2025-10-25 |website=ProyectoLibres |language=es}}</ref>
Despite the injuries he had caused, a collapsed lung, a ruptured gallbladder, hearing loss and respiratory arrest, her attacker, a boxer,<ref name=":2" /> threatened her in the hospital room and sent her intimidating messages on social media.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Por Lizbeth Diaz |date=2020-03-04 |title=Surviving an attempted femicide, a tragedy that few can tell in Mexico |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/americas/sobrevivir-a-un-intento-de-feminicidio-una-tragedia-que-pocas-pueden-contar-en-idUSKBN20R373/ |access-date=2025-10-25 |website=Reuters.com}}</ref>
== Activism == When Becky tried to file a complaint two months after the attack, authorities denied her that opportunity, saying "Time has passed, and besides, the wounds have already healed."<ref name=":2" /> Her story, along with the negligence of authorities, transformed her into an activist to support other victims and families of women who have been abused, raped or murdered.<ref name=":0" />
She tried to file a legal complaint against the partner but she was denied that opportunity because the statute of limitations had expired while she was in rehabilitation and learning to walk again, eat on her own and speak properly. In 2016, she posted a photograph of her attacker online because she felt ignored by the authorities. The partner has remained free.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" />
Every year, during the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico City, Bios leads the March of the Catrinas (where dozens of participants paint their faces as if they were dead)<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> and walks from Paseo de la Reforma to the Antimonumenta in front of the Palacio de Bellas Artes. She is a co-organizer of this march in which a contingent of activists, victims and relatives of murdered or disappeared women participate in protest. She has also attended demonstrations in San Salvador Atenco.<ref name=":2" />
As a teacher, she gives talks to students about violence, some of which have spread to social media, including YouTube. She has created and manages social media profiles dedicated to offering advice to other women who have been victims of violence. She has also managed to identify at least three femicides using information obtained from social media.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=2025-06-17 |title=Ciencia vs Desapariciones: Así Funciona el Kit Forense Casero Creado por Experta de la UNAM |url=https://www.nmas.com.mx/nacional/que-es-como-funciona-kit-forense-casero-creado-experta-unam-becky-bios/ |access-date=2025-10-25 |website=N+ |language=es-MX}}</ref>
== Forensic kit == The identity kit that Bios developed can be made inexpensively at home proactively by anyone, stored safely away, and then used by investigators or families to positively establish the identity of the missing person or to identify recovered remains. Bios created the kit as part of her undergraduate thesis in molecular biology and her master's degree in Forensic Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" />
The kit allows anyone to collect both nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA.<ref name=":5" /> A typical kit contains a person's fingerprints, a lock of hair, fingernails, toenails, photos (updated every 6 months), tattoo information, a missing person search form (downloadable from the internet), an item of clothing that has covered the upper part of the body (worn for a full day) and a dental image showing all teeth and their positions.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" />
The forensic kit has both supporters and detractors who accuse Bios of normalizing the humanitarian crisis of missing people in Mexico. Some search groups object to the identity kit because they say that having personal forensic kits could mean that the Mexican government continues to avoid its responsibilities. They also say it promotes fear among Mexicans of becoming a missing person.<ref name=":0" />
Bios has said: "The forensic kit was designed as a preventive and precautionary tool in case someone close to us were to disappear. This ensures that we have information on hand and can be compared against the databases of the National Search Commission, the Prosecutor's Office, or any other law enforcement agency that may be able to assist in the search."<ref name=":0" />
The genetic collection method used in the kit is monitored and supervised by UNAM professors.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=becky+bios Interview with Bios] on YouTube (in Spanish) * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HF49DiNFK8 Bios describing her journey] on YouTube (in Spanish)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bios, Becky}} Category:Place of birth unknown Category:Living people Category:Mexican biologists Category:Mexican activists Category:Mexican victims of crime Category:Sexual abuse advocacy and support groups Category:Sexual abuse cover-ups Category:Domestic violence awareness Category:Year of birth missing (living people)