Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Trends Biotechnol. 2017 Sep;35(9):814-823. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.03.006. Epub 2017 Mar 30.
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.
微生物存在于每个犯罪现场，并且一个多世纪以来一直被用作物证。DNA 测序和计算方法的进步最近导致了微生物组方法在法医学中的应用取得了突破，特别是在估计死后间隔时间 (PMI)、定位秘密坟墓以及获取土壤和皮肤痕迹证据方面。低成本、高通量技术使我们能够快速积累分子数据，并应用复杂的机器学习算法，构建可推广的预测模型，这些模型将在刑事司法系统中有用。特别是，整合微生物组和代谢组数据具有极大的潜力来推进微生物取证。
