Microbial Forensics

Microbial Forensics is a rapidly evolving scientific discipline. In the last decade, and particularly due to the anthrax letter attacks in the United States, microbial forensics has become more formalized and has played an increasingly greater role in crime investigations. This has brought renewed interest, development and application of new technologies, and new rules of forensic and policy engagement. It has many applications ranging from biodefense, criminal investigations, providing intelligence information, making society more secure, and helping protect precious resources, particularly human life. A combination of diverse areas is investigated, including the major disciplines of biology, microbiology, medicine, chemistry, physics, statistics, population genetics, and computer science. Microbial Forensics, Second Edition is fully revised and updated and serves as a complete reference of the discipline. It describes the advances, as well as the challenges and opportunities ahead, and will be integral in applying science to help solve future biocrimes. A collection of microbiology, virology, toxicology and mycology as it relates to forensics, in one reference New and expanded content to include statistical analysis of forensic data and legal admissibility and the standards of evidence, to name a few Includes research information and application of that research to crime scene analysis, which will allow practitioners to understand and apply the knowledge to their practice with ease

Microbial Forensics, Third Edition, serves as a complete reference on the discipline, describing the advances, challenges and opportunities that are integral in applying science to help solve future biocrimes. New chapters include: Microbial Source Tracking, Clinical Recognition, Bioinformatics, and Quality Assurance. This book is intended for a wide audience, but will be indispensable to forensic scientists and researchers interested in contributing to the growing field of microbial forensics. Biologists and microbiologists, the legal and judicial system, and the international community involved with Biological Weapons Treaties will also find this volume invaluable. Presents new and expanded content that includes a statistical analysis of forensic data, legal admissibility and standards of evidence Discusses actual cases of forensic bioterrorism Includes contributions from editors and authors who are leading experts in the field, with primary experience in the application of this fast-growing discipline

Forensic Microbiology focuses on newly emerging areas of microbiology relevant to medicolegal and criminal investigations: postmortem changes, establishing cause of death, estimating postmortem interval, and trace evidence analysis. Recent developments in sequencing technology allow researchers, and potentially practitioners, to examine microbial communities at unprecedented resolution and in multidisciplinary contexts. This detailed study of microbes facilitates the development of new forensic tools that use the structure and function of microbial communities as physical evidence. Chapters cover: Experiment design Data analysis Sample preservation The influence of microbes on results from autopsy, toxicology, and histology Decomposition ecology Trace evidence This diverse, rapidly evolving field of study has the potential to provide high quality microbial evidence which can be replicated across laboratories, providing spatial and temporal evidence which could be crucial in a broad range of investigative contexts. This book is intended as a resource for students, microbiologists, investigators, pathologists, and other forensic science professionals.

For these reasons, building awareness of and capacity in microbial forensics can assist in our understanding of what may have occurred during a biothreat event, and international collaborations that engage the broader scientific and policy-making communities are likely to strengthen our microbial forensics capabilities. One goal would be to create a shared technical understanding of the possibilities--and limitations--of the scientific bases for microbial forensics analysis. Science Needs for Microbial Forensics: Developing Initial International Research Priorities, based partly on a workshop held in Zabgreb, Croatia in 2013, identifies scientific needs that must be addressed to improve the capabilities of microbial forensics to investigate infectious disease outbreaks and provide evidence of sufficient quality to support legal proceedings and the development of government policies.

Forensic Ecogenomics: The Application of Microbial Ecology Analyses in Forensic Contexts provides intelligence on important topics, including environmental sample provenance, how to indicate the body decomposition timeline to support postmortem interval (PMI) and postmortem submersion interval (PMSI) estimates, and how to enhance identification of clandestine and transit grave locations. A diverse group of international experts have come together to present a clear perspective of forensic ecogenomics that encapsulates cutting-edge, topical and relevant cross-disciplinary approaches vital to the field. Considers the effects of decomposition on bacterial, fungal and mesofaunal populations in pristine ecosystems Examines the role of the microbiome, necrobiome and thanatomicrobiome in postmortem interval estimations Focuses on the application of different analytical techniques across forensics to enhance/expand the crime scene investigation toolkit Written by a wide range of international experts in their respective fields

Combining the disciplines of biological, physical and chemical science, microbial forensics has a rapidly rising profile in a world increasingly troubled by the threat of ‘biocrime’ and ‘bioterrorism’. This valuable resource is a major addition to a body of literature reckoned to lack sufficient breadth. It presents a variety of phenotypic and trace signature methodologies associated with cultured microorganisms that, despite being genetically identical, may be characterized by differing cultural environments. One of the central challenges faced by those working in this field is the sheer diversity of potentially harmful agents, which in themselves total more than 1000 viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoan parasites. Their numerous additional variants render the process of ‘fingerprinting’ biological agents notoriously difficult, especially when the limitations of genetic analysis are factored in. Attribution of crime is relatively easy through human DNA, but lacking the genetic individuation of humans and animals, microbial forensics has to complement phylogenetic techniques with chemical and physical ones. In the best case, genetic analysis in the ‘biocrime’ sector can exclude sources, narrow the population of possible sources and support associations with potential sources. To complement these genetic techniques, chemical and physical methods can be used to compare ‘signatures’ imparted to microbial samples by environments in which they are grown and processed. Collating a range of microbiological fingerprinting techniques in one volume, and covering everything from statistical analysis to laboratory protocols, this publication furthers the aim of forensic investigators who need robust and legally admissible forensic evidence to present in a courtroom.

Combining the disciplines of biological, physical and chemical science, microbial forensics has a rapidly rising profile in a world increasingly troubled by the threat of ‘biocrime’ and ‘bioterrorism’. This valuable resource is a major addition to a body of literature reckoned to lack sufficient breadth. It presents a variety of phenotypic and trace signature methodologies associated with cultured microorganisms that, despite being genetically identical, may be characterized by differing cultural environments. One of the central challenges faced by those working in this field is the sheer diversity of potentially harmful agents, which in themselves total more than 1000 viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoan parasites. Their numerous additional variants render the process of ‘fingerprinting’ biological agents notoriously difficult, especially when the limitations of genetic analysis are factored in. Attribution of crime is relatively easy through human DNA, but lacking the genetic individuation of humans and animals, microbial forensics has to complement phylogenetic techniques with chemical and physical ones. In the best case, genetic analysis in the ‘biocrime’ sector can exclude sources, narrow the population of possible sources and support associations with potential sources. To complement these genetic techniques, chemical and physical methods can be used to compare ‘signatures’ imparted to microbial samples by environments in which they are grown and processed. Collating a range of microbiological fingerprinting techniques in one volume, and covering everything from statistical analysis to laboratory protocols, this publication furthers the aim of forensic investigators who need robust and legally admissible forensic evidence to present in a courtroom.

Forensic Microbiology focuses on newly emerging areas of microbiology relevant to medicolegal and criminal investigations: postmortem changes, establishing cause of death, estimating postmortem interval, and trace evidence analysis. Recent developments in sequencing technology allow researchers, and potentially practitioners, to examine microbial communities at unprecedented resolution and in multidisciplinary contexts. This detailed study of microbes facilitates the development of new forensic tools that use the structure and function of microbial communities as physical evidence. Chapters cover: Experiment design Data analysis Sample preservation The influence of microbes on results from autopsy, toxicology, and histology Decomposition ecology Trace evidence This diverse, rapidly evolving field of study has the potential to provide high quality microbial evidence which can be replicated across laboratories, providing spatial and temporal evidence which could be crucial in a broad range of investigative contexts. This book is intended as a resource for students, microbiologists, investigators, pathologists, and other forensic science professionals.