MISAFE

The Development and Validation of Microbial Soil Community Analyses for Forensics Purposes

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Crime-fighting is a significant concern of the European Union. The EU is committed to fighting all forms of serious, organised and transnational crime. This commitment has led to the decision in 1999 to create a network of national authorities responsible for crime prevention, and later to the establishment (in 2001) of the European Crime Prevention Network and specifically, in the support of forensic science. This project (MiSAFE – Microbial Soil Analysis) fits as a part of this commitment to a safe Europe. It also reflects the EU’s 2020 Flagship Initiative (SEC(2010) 1161) for increasing the output of innovative research to the entrepreneurial world. Soil intelligence can usually be re-assessed to provide direct evidence during the evidential phase of an investigation, where it is being assembled against a specific suspect. Such soil evidence is often comparative, but clearly it is necessary for the soil expert to assist the court as to the likelihood of the results being derived from some other, unrelated, location. The development of soil DNA tools within MiSAFE will improve on conventional approaches. The partnership comprises two SMEs, two police forces and three academic institutions. The overall aim of MiSAFE is to develop tools for crime-fighting and crime-prevention, providing opportunities for European SMEs to lead in this new field of environmental genetic forensics. The specific project objectives will be to: 1. Develop appropriate sample collection, storage, and processing tools for soil DNA as applied to forensic science. 2. Apply and delimit the use of DNA-based technologies in soil forensic science for search and evidence. 3. Develop and apply data analysis software and user interface for soil DNA tools. 4. Validate and legally consolidate the use of microbial soil forensic science across the range of EU legal systems. 5. Provide basic standards and procedures for creating a pan-EU soil microbial database.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

EU researchers are studying microorganisms in soil for use in the forensic investigation of crime scenes and criminal suspects.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The http://sites.google.com/site/fp7misafe/ (MISAFE) (The development and validation of microbial soil community analyses for forensics purposes) project is part of the EU's commitment to a safe Europe. Its aim was to develop tools that will enable soil samples to be routinely used in forensic investigations. The EU-funded consortium comprised small and medium-sized enterprises, police forces and academic institutions.

Soil analysis is a valuable ally in forensic investigations as it can provide clues to the origin of an unknown sample, or be used to compare samples from a crime scene with a suspect. However, to date, the application or use of soil information in criminal investigations has been limited, often due to a lack of awareness of the important role it can play.

Microbial diversity in soil is largely uncharacterised due to its vast scale; it is estimated to range from 10 000 to 10 million species of bacteria in a single gram. Furthermore, more than 99 % of bacteria do not grow under laboratory conditions or in microbial media. However, powerful molecular technologies can be used to isolate and characterise bacteria DNA, thereby overcoming the problem of cultivation.

Although some species of bacteria are abundant in the natural environment, most species are composed of very small populations, the so-called rare biosphere. Therefore, the structure of the bacterial community can provide a powerful tool for tracing the origin of a soil sample.

The MISAFE project promoted the forensic use of soil microbial communities by developing appropriate technologies to ensure suitable resolution, reliability and robustness of results. Project partners therefore developed sample collection, storage and processing tools for soil DNA that meet the needs of forensic science.

Researchers also investigated the use of DNA technologies in soil forensic science for search and evidence, and develop and apply data analysis software and user interfaces for soil DNA tools. In addition, MISAFE validated and legally consolidated the use of microbial soil forensic science across the different EU legal systems. It also provided basic standards and procedures for creating an EU-wide soil microbial database.