Journal of Forensic Medicine ›› 2022, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (5): 625-639.DOI: 10.12116/j.issn.1004-5619.2022.520303

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New Advances, Challenges and Opportunities in Forensic Applications of Microbiomics

Fan-zhang LEI1(), Man CHEN1, Shu-yan MEI1, Ya-ting FANG1,2, Bo-feng ZHU1()   

  1. 1.School of Forensic Medicine,Southern Medical University,Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Forensic Multi-Omics for Precision Identification,Guangzhou 510515,China
    2.School of Basic Medical Sciences,Anhui Medical University,Hefei 230031,China
  • Received:2022-03-18 Online:2022-10-25 Published:2022-10-28
  • Contact: Bo-feng ZHU

Abstract:

The succession of microbiota is closely associated with several essential factors, including race, sex, health condition, lifestyle, postmortem interval, etc., and it has great potential application value in forensic medicine. This paper summarizes recent studies on the forensic applications of the microbiome, including individual identification, geographical feature identification, origin identification of the tissue or body fluid, and postmortem interval estimation, and introduces the current machine learning algorithms for microbiology research based on next-generation sequencing data. In addition, the current problems facing forensic microbiomics such as the extraction and preservation of samples, construction of standardization and database, ethical review and practical applicability are discussed. Future multi-omics studies are expected to explore micro ecosystems from a comprehensive and dynamic perspective, to promote the development of forensic microbiomics application.

Key words: forensic medicine, microbiomics, individual identification, geographical feature identification, origin identification of tissues and body fluids, postmortem interval estimation, analysis of death cause, review

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