Omics for forensic and post-mortem microbiology

Forensic microbiology, is a relatively new scientific field, attempting to utilise our knowledge of the evolution and habitats of different microorganisms. The introduction of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies to various applications in microbiology has the potential to promote the field of forensic microbiology making it a valuable tool in the evaluation of a crime scene. In this chapter, we will thoroughly review what is known on forensic microbiology in de-termining the cause of death (COD), the study of pathogen transmission between donor-recipient pairs, the source(s) of outbreaks, the identification of body fluids or the identification of individuals through the microbial composition of their remains, to name just a few of the current applications. We will also discuss the challenges and obstacles in introducing this novel technology into courtrooms. Although yet under development and not presented in court cases so far, within the last 2 years some groups have been trying to apply HTS techniques to the diagnosis of infection as a COD. These advances are summarised here