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Lewis M, Lainé K, Dawnay L, Lamont D, Scott K, Mariani S, Hӓnfling B, Dawnay N. The forensic potential of environmental DNA (eDNA) in freshwater wildlife crime investigations: From research to application. Sci Justice 2024; 64:443-454. [PMID: 39025568 DOI: 10.1016/j.scijus.2024.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2024] [Revised: 06/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/15/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
Environmental DNA (eDNA) is widely used in biodiversity, conservation, and ecological studies but despite its successes, similar approaches have not yet been regularly applied to assist in wildlife crime investigations. The purpose of this paper is to review current eDNA methods and assess their potential forensic application in freshwater environments considering collection, transport and persistence, analysis, and interpretation, while identifying additional research required to present eDNA evidence in court. An extensive review of the literature suggests that commonly used collection methods can be easily adapted for forensic frameworks providing they address the appropriate investigative questions and take into consideration the uniqueness of the target species, its habitat, and the requirements of the end user. The use of eDNA methods to inform conservationists, monitor biodiversity and impacts of climate change, and detect invasive species and pathogens shows confidence within the scientific community, making the acceptance of these methods by the criminal justice system highly possible. To contextualise the potential application of eDNA on forensic investigations, two test cases are explored involving i) species detection and ii) species localisation. Recommendations for future work within the forensic eDNA discipline include development of suitable standardised collection methods, considered collection strategies, forensically validated assays and publication of procedures and empirical research studies to support implementation within the legal system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew Lewis
- School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, UK
| | - Katie Lainé
- School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, UK
| | - Louise Dawnay
- School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, UK; International Study Centre, Liverpool John Moores University, Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, UK
| | - David Lamont
- School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, UK; Forensic Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, UK
| | - Kirstie Scott
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, UK; Forensic Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, UK
| | - Stefano Mariani
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, UK; Forensic Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, UK
| | - Bernd Hӓnfling
- Institute for Biodiversity and Freshwater Conservation, University of the Highlands and Islands, Inverness, UK
| | - Nick Dawnay
- School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, UK; Forensic Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, UK.
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Goray M, Taylor D, Bibbo E, Fantinato C, Fonneløp AE, Gill P, van Oorschot RAH. Emerging use of air eDNA and its application to forensic investigations - A review. Electrophoresis 2024; 45:916-932. [PMID: 38419135 DOI: 10.1002/elps.202300228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
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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Affiliation(s)
- Mariya Goray
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Duncan Taylor
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- Forensic Science SA, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Emily Bibbo
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Chiara Fantinato
- Forensic Genetics Research Group, Department of Forensic Sciences, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ane Elida Fonneløp
- Forensic Genetics Research Group, Department of Forensic Sciences, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Peter Gill
- Forensic Genetics Research Group, Department of Forensic Sciences, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Roland A H van Oorschot
- Victoria Police Forensic Services Department, Office of Chief Forensic Scientist, Macleod, Victoria, Australia
- School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
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Schaerer L, Ghannam R, Olson A, Van Camp A, Techtmann S. Persistence of location-specific microbial signatures on boats during voyages. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2024; 199:115884. [PMID: 38118397 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2023] [Revised: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/22/2023]
Abstract
Objects collect microorganisms from their surroundings and develop a microbial "fingerprint" that may be useful for determining an object's past location (provenance). It may be possible to use ubiquitous microorganisms for forensics or as environmental sensors. Here, we use microbial communities in the Chesapeake Bay region to demonstrate the use of natural microorganisms as biological sensors to determine the past location of boats. The microbiomes of two boats and of the open water were sampled as these vessels traveled from the Port of Baltimore to the Port of Norfolk, and back to Baltimore. 16S rRNA sequencing was performed to identify microorganisms. Differential abundance and machine learning analyses were utilized to identify microbial signatures and predicted probabilities which were used to determine the vessel's previous location. The work presented here provides a better understanding of how microbes in aquatic systems can be leveraged as utility for object biosensors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Schaerer
- Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA
| | - Ryan Ghannam
- Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA
| | - Allison Olson
- Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA
| | - Annika Van Camp
- Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA
| | - Stephen Techtmann
- Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA.
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Foster NR, Taylor D, Hoogewerff J, Aberle MG, de Caritat P, Roffey P, Edwards R, Malik A, Waycott M, Young JM. The secret hidden in dust: Assessing the potential to use biological and chemical properties of the airborne fraction of soil for provenance assignment and forensic casework. Forensic Sci Int Genet 2023; 67:102931. [PMID: 37659257 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2023.102931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 08/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/04/2023]
Abstract
The airborne fraction of soil (dust) is both ubiquitous in nature and contains localised biological and chemical signatures, making it a potential medium for forensic intelligence. Metabarcoding of dust can yield biological communities unique to the site of interest, similarly, geochemical analyses can uncover elements and minerals within dust that can be matched to a geographic location. Combining these analyses presents multiple lines of evidence as to the origin of dust collected from items of interest. In this work, we investigated whether bacterial and fungal communities in dust change through time and whether they are comparable to soil samples of the same site. We integrated dust metabarcoding into a framework amenable to forensic casework, (i.e., using calibrated log-likelihood ratios) to predict the origin of dust samples using models constructed from both dust samples and soil samples from the same site. Furthermore, we tested whether both metabarcoding and geochemical/mineralogical analyses could be conducted on a single swabbed sample, for situations where sampling is limited. We found both analyses could generate results from a single swabbed sample and found biological and chemical signatures unique to sites. However, we did find significant variation within sites, where this did not always correlate with time but was a random effect of sampling. This variation within sites was not greater than between sites and so did not influence site discrimination. When modelling bacterial and fungal diversity using calibrated log-likelihood ratios, we found samples were correctly predicted using dust 67% and 56% of the time and using soil 56% and 22% of the time for bacteria and fungi communities respectively. Incorrect predictions were related to within site variability, highlighting limitations to assigning dust provenance using metabarcoding of soil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole R Foster
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
| | - Duncan Taylor
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia; Forensic Science SA, GPO Box 2790, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Jurian Hoogewerff
- National Centre for Forensic Studies, University of Canberra, Bruce Australian Capital Territory 2617, Australia
| | - Michael G Aberle
- National Centre for Forensic Studies, University of Canberra, Bruce Australian Capital Territory 2617, Australia
| | - Patrice de Caritat
- National Centre for Forensic Studies, University of Canberra, Bruce Australian Capital Territory 2617, Australia; Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| | - Paul Roffey
- National Centre for Forensic Studies, University of Canberra, Bruce Australian Capital Territory 2617, Australia; Australian Federal Police, GPO Box 401, Canberra Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia
| | - Robert Edwards
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
| | - Arif Malik
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - Michelle Waycott
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - Jennifer M Young
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia
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