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. Forensic microbiology deal also with the study of microorganisms in order to determine the path of an outbreak, the identity of a criminal or the origin of a particular strain of biological weapon or contagion.
Forensic Microbiology: David O. Carter, Jeffery K. Tomberlin, M. Eric Benbow, Jessica L. Metcalf
John Wiley & Sons, (2017)
Learning Objectives
Acquired knowledge: Knowledge on ecology and functional and evolutionary biology of the main taxonomic groups of microorganisms present in built and natural environments, fungi, bacteria, viruses. Guiding principles for the selection of genes or genomic regions useful as molecular markers and clocks. Microorganisms in decomposition processes. Origins and diversity of microbial communities, environmental and food microbiology. Metagenomics methods for global analysis of microbial communities. Potential and limits of the use of microorganisms as bioindicators in forensic studies. Micro-organisms such as weapons, bioterrorism and bacteriological warfare. Basis of epidemiology. Methods of containment of microbial infections and epidemics.
Acquired skills: identification techniques, genetic and genomic analysis of microorganisms, bacteria, yeasts, fungi and viruses. Sequencing techniques and DNA-based phylogenetic analysis. Bioinformatics and data analysis techniques of genomics and metagenomics, alignment of sequences and construction of taxonomic trees, analysis at species and strain level investigations.
Skills acquired at the end of the course. Understand critically the role of bacteria as indicators. Use of microorganisms in forensic and procedural practice.
Prerequisites
General microbiology and Genetics and Genomics.
Teaching Methods
Lectures, seminars and the internet.
Further information
Mandatory presence during the course lectures.
Type of Assessment
Written multiple response test, preparation of a scientific seminar on a selected subject or case study, oral interrogation.
The evaluation will include the ability of the student to describe rigorously the subject, using an appropriate vocabulary. The test will also evaluate the ability of independent thinking and problem solving
Course program
Forensic microbiologists burrow deep below the visible world to find biological markers hidden in the DNA of all living matter. These markers, identify patterns in DNA that help determine everything from a person's individual identity to the direct link between two seemingly dissimilar outbreaks of food poisoning or microbial environmental composition in different parts of the world. 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.
Thus Forensic microbiology in conjunction with forensic anthropology can be used to help trace individuals to specific areas. Forensic microbiology thus traces the the migration patterns of microorganisms from food, samples, or ethnic groups through DNA analysis. DNA profiling also is used to study identical twins who might be exposed to different pathogens, in order to determine how the same DNA reacts to different contagions
Taxonomic structure and physiology of the main groups of microorganisms present in built and environmental environments. Evolutionary ecology of fungi, bacteria and viruses. Sample sampling, standardization and stabilization methods. DNA and RNA extraction methods and quality control.
DNA amplification methods. Single cell analysis and complex communities. Sequencing methods, from Sanger to the latest generation sequencers.
Metagenomics methods for global analysis of microbial communities.
Assessment of the influence of microbes on results from autopsy, toxicology, and histology. Decomposition ecology. Trace evidence. Methods for acquisition of 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. Bioterrorism and microorganisms as biological weapons. Epidemiology.Drivers of Forensic Microbiology evolution. Different types of Forensic Microbiology. Differences in Forensic Science versus Forensic Microbiology. How to read a scientific journal and review one in a case study.