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                            Library & Multimedia
 Solving Crimes with Soil Bacteria
NCJ Number
              251585

Author(s)
          Jim  Dawson
Date Published

September 2017
Length
              3 pages
Annotation
              This report summarizes the NIJ-funded project of molecular geneticist and forensic scientist David Foran, who has worked with his students at Michigan State University to examine the distinctive DNA of the bacteria found in soil as legitimate evidence in criminal cases.
Abstract
              The research goal is to develop a "soil individualization technique" that enables a forensic expert to produce objective, statistical data that conclusively show soil distinctive to a crime scene can be matched to soil on a tool, clothing, or other item possessed by a suspect. This work has included DNA analysis of the millions or billions of bacteria found in soil samples taken from woodlands, fields, backyards, and dirt roads. Some students even collected slaughterhouse blood to study the bacterial changes caused when blood mixes with soil. Using next-generation sequencing (NGS) of bacterial DNA, Foran has used supervised classification techniques to classify the bacterial composition of a soil sample and give values that are, according to Foran, "completely objective." The statistical data from bacterial analysis meet the Daubert standard on the admissibility of scientific testimony. The individualization of bacterial populations in soil thus provides data that can be used for "individualizing" soil samples. Although crime labs are not currently using next-generation sequencing, as the technique becomes standard in non-forensic settings, Foran envisions crime labs incorporating it into their work for a host of forensic investigations.
      
  
          Additional Details
Grant Number(s)
        2015-DN-BX-K031
                                2013-R2-CX-K010


  
  
        
  Agencies
        NIJ-Sponsored


  
  
        
  Publication Type
        Research (Applied/Empirical)
                                Report (Study/Research)
                                Report (Grant Sponsored)
                                Program/Project Description


  
  
        
  Award
        Developing Reliable Methods for Microbial Fingerprinting of Soils
                                Developing Reliable Methods for Microbial Fingerprinting of Soil Evidence: Collection, Contamination, Storage, and Analysis
    
  
  
Date Published: September 1, 2017
    
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