Forensic analysis using microbial community between skin bacteria and fabrics

Lee, So‐Yeon; Woo, Seung-Kyun; Lee, So-Min; Eom, Yong‐Bin

doi:10.1007/s13530-016-0284-y

Cited by 28 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…As described before, we selected 18 works in order to provide an overview of what was experimentally ascertained so far in this recent field of research. All the studies show, albeit with different levels of accuracy, the possibility of linking a person to different touched objects, such as keyboards [35], computer mice [35], cell phones [37], fabrics [52], and different objects collected from indoor crime scenes [53], through microbial analysis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Skin Microbiome Analysis for Forensic Human Identification: What Do We Know So Far?

et al. 2020

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Microbiome research is a highly transdisciplinary field with a wide range of applications and methods for studying it, involving different computational approaches and models. The fact that different people host radically different microbiota highlights forensic perspectives in understanding what leads to this variation and what regulates it, in order to effectively use microbes as forensic evidence. This narrative review provides an overview of some of the main scientific works so far produced, focusing on the potentiality of using skin microbiome profiling for human identification in forensics. This review was performed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The examined literature clearly ascertains that skin microbial communities, although personalized, vary systematically across body sites and time, with intrapersonal differences over time smaller than interpersonal ones, showing such a high degree of spatial and temporal variability that the degree and nature of this variability can constitute in itself an important parameter useful in distinguishing individuals from one another. Even making the effort to organically synthesize all results achieved until now, it is quite evident that these results are still the pieces of a puzzle, which is not yet complete.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2016, Lee et al [52] examined microbial communities raised on fabrics following hand contact. They asked three healthy, adult Korean volunteers to touch one of three different fabrics (100% cotton, 55% cotton-45% polyester fabric, and 100% polyester).…”

Section: Fabricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Skin Microbiome Analysis for Forensic Human Identification: What Do We Know So Far?

et al. 2020

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“…Microorganisms associated with fabrics have not historically been studied in detail [9,[49][50][51][52], whereas microbiome of human [37,[53][54][55] and built environments [16], including closed habitat of ISS environment, has received much attention [13,14,56,57]. One of the objectives of this study was determining if a human within a spacesuit could act as a source for the unintentional microbial contamination and pass on microbial signatures out of the spacesuits.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Spacesuit Associated Microbial Communities and Their Implications for NASA Missions

Danko

Mohan

Sierra

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background. Crewed NASA missions to other solar system bodies are currently being planned. One high-profile scientific focus during such expeditions would be life detection, specifically the discovery of past or present microbial life, if they exist. However, both humans and associated objects typically carry a high microbial burden. Thus, it is essential to distinguish between microbes brought with the expedition and those present on the exploring planets. Modern spacesuits are unique, customized spacecraft which provide protection, mobility and life support to crew during spacewalks, yet they vent continuously, and the mobility of microbes through spacesuits has not been studied. Results. To evaluate the microbial colonization of spacesuits, NASA used an Extravehicular Activity swab kit to examine viable microbial populations of 48 samples from spacesuits using both traditional microbiological methods and molecular sequencing methods. The cultivable microbial population ranged from below the detection limit to 9 x 102 colony forming units per 25 cm2 of sample and also significantly varied by the location. The cultivable microbial diversity was dominated by members of Bacillus, Arthrobcter, and Ascomycota. However, 16S rRNA-based viable bacterial burden ranged from 105 to 106 copies per 25 cm2 of sample. Shotgun metagenome sequencing revealed the presence of a diverse microbial population on the spacesuit surfaces, including Curtobacterium and Methylobacterium from across all sets of spacesuits in high abundance. Among bacterial species identified, higher abundance of Cutibacterium acnes, Methylobacterium oryzae, and M. phyllosphaerae reads were documented. Conclusion. The results of this study provide evidence that identical microbial strains may live on the wrist joint, inner gauntlet, and outer gauntlet of spacesuits. This raises the possibility, but does not confirm, that viable microbes are able to migrate between the interior and exterior of spacesuits. Overall, these data provide the first estimate of microbial dispersion from internal to external spacesuit surfaces, which will help future mission planners develop effective planetary protection strategies.

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“…The exchange between environmental and personal microbiomes is also seen on a micro-level, especially for the terms that they are in close contact with their users. Microbiomes harvested from fabrics [29], shoes [30], keyboards [31], and cell phones [30] have all shown that they partially share their user's microbial signatures. The changes are not entirely unidirectional, as the environmental bacteria can also alter the microbiomes of its inhabitants, as was seen between individuals that live together with cohabitating spouses, children and pets all sharing microbial signatures [14], though bacterial viruses also can lead to increased taxa similarity across families [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrating the microbiome as a resource in the forensics toolkit

Clarke

Gómez

Singh

et al. 2017

Forensic Science International: Genetics

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The introduction of DNA fingerprinting to forensic science rapidly expanded the available evidence that could be garnered from a crime scene and used in court cases. Next generation sequencing technologies increased available genetic data that could be used as evidence by orders of magnitude, and as such, significant additional genetic information is now available for use in forensic science. This includes DNA from the bacteria that live in and on humans, known as the human microbiome. Next generation sequencing of the human microbiome demonstrates that its bacterial DNA can be used to uniquely identify an individual, provide information about their life and behavioral patterns, determine the body site where a sample came from, and estimate postmortem intervals. Bacterial samples from the environment and objects can also be leveraged to address similar questions about the individual(s) who interacted with them. However, the applications of this new field in forensic sciences raises concerns on current methods used in sample processing, including sample collection, storage, and the statistical power of published studies. These areas of human microbiome research need to be fully addressed before microbiome data can become a regularly incorporated evidence type and routine procedure of the forensic toolkit. Here, we summarize information on the current status of microbiome research as applies to the forensic field, the mathematical models used to make predictions, and the possible legal and practical difficulties that can limit the application of microbiomes in forensic science.

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Forensic analysis using microbial community between skin bacteria and fabrics

Cited by 28 publications

References 27 publications

Skin Microbiome Analysis for Forensic Human Identification: What Do We Know So Far?

Skin Microbiome Analysis for Forensic Human Identification: What Do We Know So Far?

Characterization of Spacesuit Associated Microbial Communities and Their Implications for NASA Missions

Integrating the microbiome as a resource in the forensics toolkit

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