College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Forensic Sci Int Genet. 2021 Jan;50:102393. doi: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2020.102393. Epub 2020 Sep 16.
Massively parallel sequencing (MPS) has revolutionised the field of genomics enabling substantial advances in human DNA profiling. Further, the advent of MPS now allows biological signatures to be obtained from complex DNA mixtures and trace amounts of low biomass samples. Environmental samples serve as ideal forms of contact trace evidence as detection at a scene can establish a link between a suspect, location and victim. Many studies have applied MPS technology to characterise the biodiversity within high biomass environmental samples (such as soil and water) to address questions related to ecology, conservation, climate change and human health. However, translation of these tools to forensic science remains in its infancy, due in part to the merging of traditional forensic ecology practices with unfamiliar DNA technologies and complex datasets. In addition, people and objects also carry low biomass environmental signals which have recently been shown to reflect a specific individual or location. The sensitivity, and reducing cost, of MPS is now unlocking the power of both high and low biomass environmental DNA (eDNA) samples as useful sources of genetic information in forensic science. This paper discusses the potential of eDNA to forensic science by reviewing the most explored applications that are leading the integration of this technology into the field. We introduce novel areas of forensic ecology that could also benefit from these tools with a focus on linking a suspect to a scene or establishing provenance of an unknown sample and discuss the current limitations and validation recommendations to achieve translation of eDNA into casework.
大规模并行测序（MPS）彻底改变了基因组学领域，使得人类 DNA 分析取得了重大进展。此外，MPS 的出现现在允许从复杂的 DNA 混合物和痕量低生物量样本中获得生物特征。环境样本是接触痕迹证据的理想形式，因为在现场的检测可以在嫌疑犯、地点和受害者之间建立联系。许多研究已经应用 MPS 技术来描述高生物量环境样本（如土壤和水）中的生物多样性，以解决与生态学、保护、气候变化和人类健康有关的问题。然而，由于传统法医生态学实践与不熟悉的 DNA 技术和复杂数据集的融合，这些工具在法医科学中的应用仍处于起步阶段。此外，人和物体也携带低生物量的环境信号，这些信号最近被证明反映了特定的个人或地点。MPS 的灵敏度和成本降低，现在正在释放高和低生物量环境 DNA（eDNA）样本的力量，使其成为法医科学中有用的遗传信息来源。本文通过回顾最具探索性的应用，讨论了 eDNA 对法医科学的潜力，这些应用引领着这项技术在该领域的整合。我们介绍了新兴的法医生态学领域，这些领域也可以从这些工具中受益，重点是将嫌疑犯与现场联系起来，或确定未知样本的出处，并讨论实现将 eDNA 转化为实际工作的当前限制和验证建议。
