The utility of dust for forensic intelligence: Exploring collection methods and detection limits for environmental DNA, elemental and mineralogical analyses of dust samples

Foster, Nicole R.; Martin, Belinda C.; Hoogewerff, Jurian; Aberle, Michael G.; Caritat, Patrice de; Roffey, Paul; Edwards, Robert A.; Malik, Arif; Thwaites, Priscilla; Waycott, Michelle; Young, Jennifer M.

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111599

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Although sampling variations were noted within sites, correct location was predicted 67% and 56% of the time when using dust and 56% and 22% when using soil for bacteria and fungi communities, respectively. Of note, impact of sampling time on detected bacteria and fungi communities was less clear and required further testing [147].…”

Section: Human Dna In Dustmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emerging use of air eDNA and its application to forensic investigations – A review

Goray,

Taylor,

Bibbo

et al. 2024

Electrophoresis

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Biological material is routinely collected at crime scenes and from exhibits and is a key type of evidence during criminal investigations. Improvements in DNA technologies allow collection and profiling of trace samples, comprised of few cells, significantly expanding the types of exhibits targeted for DNA analysis to include touched surfaces. However, success rates from trace and touch DNA samples tend to be poorer compared to other biological materials such as blood. Simultaneously, there have been recent advances in the utility of environmental DNA collection (eDNA) in identification and tracking of different biological organisms and species from bacteria to naked mole rats in different environments, including, soil, ice, snow, air and aquatic. This paper examines the emerging methods and research into eDNA collection, with a special emphasis on the potential forensic applications of human DNA collection from air including challenges and further studies required to progress implementation.

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Section: Human Dna In Dustmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, microbial and bacterial DNA can be collected from dust and provide investigative information on crime scene location [146]. The authors investigated if biological, elemental and mineralogical analysis of dust can be used as provenance identification tool.…”

Section: Review Of the Current Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging use of air eDNA and its application to forensic investigations – A review

Goray,

Taylor,

Bibbo

et al. 2024

Electrophoresis

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“…Subsequently to these publications, there have been several manuscripts that highlight the key role of intelligence involving the crime laboratory [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]. While these manuscripts address the role of intelligence in general, other contributions to the literature address the role of intelligence in specific areas of investigation including crime scene investigation [58,59], DNA [60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78], digital evidence [79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88], document examination [89][90][91], drugs-controlled substances [38,…”

Section: Recent Literature On Forensic Intelligencementioning

confidence: 99%

Intelligence and the Value of Forensic Science

Speaker

2024

Forensic Sciences

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Recent research has seen a rapid expansion in the reference to front-end forensics as an indication of the untapped value of forensic science. While some of these contributions have centered on development of forensic intelligence from a single area of investigation, others call for a more fundamental change in the relationship between crime laboratories and policing, particularly relating early laboratory analysis with big datasets to provide leads to investigators. We highlight several recently implemented tactical strategies of crime laboratories that contribute to the body of forensic intelligence. Beyond the scientific gains from these tactical applications, the corresponding details on associated efficiencies, costs, time savings, and quality improvements offer insights towards patterns of success for the community of crime laboratories. Further details expand an interpretation of what constitutes success with an eye on the contributions of the crime laboratory towards public health, safety, and protection of the innocent in addition to societal gains from conviction of the guilty. The economic interpretation of the value provided by the forensic laboratory assists in the cost–benefit review of strategic and tactical decisions and supports the justification for laboratory public funding with measures of the return on investment from public support of the forensic laboratory. Examples of the cost savings from crimes avoided include the returns from testing the backlog of unsubmitted sexual assault kits with USD 81 of costs avoided for each USD 1 spent to high-efficiency laboratories achieving gains of USD 646 for each UD 1 spent on de novo case submissions.

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“…2017a; Elbrecht & Leese 2015). Dust (or debris) contains animal environmental DNA (eDNA) in the form of smaller body parts, minute animals, which are mixed with plant matter, and other fine particles of solid matter (Foster et al, 2023; Lennartz et al, 2021). Similar samples have been successfully analysed using metabarcoding (Madden et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Arthropod remains such as body parts or exuviae can considerably vary in size and DNA content, which can be the source of bias as it has been repeatedly shown that metabarcoding is susceptible to biomass variation (e.g., Elbrecht et al 2017a;Elbrecht & Leese 2015). Dust (or debris) contains animal environmental DNA (eDNA) in the form of smaller body parts, minute animals, which are mixed with plant matter, and other fine particles of solid matter (Foster et al, 2023;Lennartz et al, 2021). Similar samples have been successfully analysed using metabarcoding (Madden et al 2016), making them a potentially suitable option.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling bird nest arthropod community structure using metabarcoding

Lévesque-Beaudin

Steinke

Boecker

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Bird nests are fascinating microcosms harboring a wide range of arthropods parasitizing the nesting birds or feeding on prey remains, feces, and the nest material. Studies of these communities have been entirely based on emergence traps which collect live organisms out of the nests. The analysis of nest contents and environmental DNA (eDNA) via metabarcoding could expand our knowledge and identify prey, exuviae, and other animal remains in bird nests. Here, we investigated the potential of arthropod remains, nest dust, and feathers to better describe taxonomic diversity accumulated in 20 bird nests collected in Guelph (Canada). We used subsampling strategies and tested two extraction approaches to investigate the distribution of DNA in nests, account for low-quality DNA, and the presence of inhibitory substances. In total, 103 taxa were detected via metabarcoding. Arthropod remains delivered the highest number of taxa (n=67), followed by nest dust (n=29). Extractions with the PowerSoil kit outperformed DNeasy extractions coupled with PowerClean Pro inhibitor removal. The subsamples of the same nest showed 5.5% and 47.1% taxonomic overlap for arthropod remains and PowerSoil extracted nest dust, respectively, indicating a heterogeneous eDNA distribution in nests. Most detected species were either feeding in the nest, i.e., herbivorous / predatory, or bird food. We also detected molecular traces of 25 bird species, whose feathers were likely used as nest material. Consequently, the metabarcoding of bird nest materials provides a more complete picture of nest communities, which can enable future studies on functional diversity and better comparisons between nesting species.

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The utility of dust for forensic intelligence: Exploring collection methods and detection limits for environmental DNA, elemental and mineralogical analyses of dust samples

Cited by 11 publications

References 22 publications

Emerging use of air eDNA and its application to forensic investigations – A review

Emerging use of air eDNA and its application to forensic investigations – A review

Intelligence and the Value of Forensic Science

Unravelling bird nest arthropod community structure using metabarcoding

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