Exploring the role of the human microbiome in forensic identification: opportunities and challenges.
Int J Legal Med
; 138(5): 1891-1905, 2024 Sep.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38594499
ABSTRACT
Forensic microbiology is rapidly emerging as a novel tool for human identification. The human microbiome, comprising diverse microbial communities including fungi, bacteria, protozoa, and viruses, is unique to each individual, offering a new dimension to forensic investigations. While traditional identification methods primarily rely on DNA profiling and fingerprint analysis, they face limitations when complete DNA or fingerprints profiles are unattainable or degraded. In this context, the microbial signatures of the human skin microbiome present a promising alternative due to their resilience to environmental stresses and individual-specific composition. This review explores the potential of microbiome analysis in forensic human identification, evaluating its applications, advantages, limitations, and future prospects. The uniqueness of an individual's microbial community, particularly the skin microbiota, can provide distinctive biological markers for identification purposes, while technological advancements like 16 S rRNA sequencing and metagenomic shotgun sequencing are enhancing the specificity of microbial identification, enabling detailed analysis of these complex ecological communities. Despite these promising findings, current research has not yet achieved a level of identification probability that could establish microbial analysis as a stand-alone evidence tool. Therefore, it is presently considered ancillary to traditional methods, contributing to a more comprehensive biological profile of individuals.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Skin
/
Microbiota
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Int J Legal Med
/
Int. j. legal med
/
International journal of legal medicine
Journal subject:
JURISPRUDENCIA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italia
Country of publication:
Alemania