Microbiome Tools for Forensic Science

Jessica L Metcalf; Zhenjiang Z Xu; Amina Bouslimani; Pieter Dorrestein; David O Carter; Rob Knight

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.03.006

Microbiome Tools for Forensic Science

Trends Biotechnol. 2017 Sep;35(9):814-823. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.03.006. Epub 2017 Mar 30.

Authors

Jessica L Metcalf¹, Zhenjiang Z Xu², Amina Bouslimani³, Pieter Dorrestein⁴, David O Carter⁵, Rob Knight⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. Electronic address: Jessica.Metcalf@colostate.edu.
² Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
³ Department of Pharmacology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Pharmacology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Collaborative Mass Spectrometry Innovation Center, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center for Microbiome Innovation, Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
⁵ Laboratory of Forensic Taphonomy, Forensic Sciences Unit, Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Chaminade University of Honolulu, Honolulu, HI 96816, USA.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Center for Microbiome Innovation, Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Jacobs School of Engineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.

PMID: 28366290
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.03.006

Abstract

Microbes are present at every crime scene and have been used as physical evidence for over a century. Advances in DNA sequencing and computational approaches have led to recent breakthroughs in the use of microbiome approaches for forensic science, particularly in the areas of estimating postmortem intervals (PMIs), locating clandestine graves, and obtaining soil and skin trace evidence. Low-cost, high-throughput technologies allow us to accumulate molecular data quickly and to apply sophisticated machine-learning algorithms, building generalizable predictive models that will be useful in the criminal justice system. In particular, integrating microbiome and metabolomic data has excellent potential to advance microbial forensics.

Keywords: forensics; machine learning; metabolomic; microbiome; postmortem interval; trace evidence.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Algorithms*
Animals
Forensic Sciences / methods*
Forensic Sciences / trends
High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing*
Humans
Machine Learning*
Microbiota*