Soil DNA: advances in DNA technology offer a powerful new tool for forensic science

Abstract

AbstractUnsolved crimes add significant financial, legal and social costs to the community. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop robust solutions to deal with this growing issue. Soil forensic analysis is an emerging cross-disciplinary science that can deliver powerful physical evidence with significant benefits to criminal, counter-terrorism and environmental crime investigations. Technologies currently used, which are largely dependent on the examination of inorganic soil components, are unable to successfully resolve approximately 20% of soil comparisons in cases due to a deficiency in spatial resolution. The organic component of soil includes a vast number of living organisms, and the combination of these organisms can provide a biological signature to assist with soil comparisons. Recent developments in DNA sequencing technology enable characterization, and comparison, of these complex soil communities, providing additional discriminatory information that could potentially assist in cases that cannot currently be resolved. DNA analysis is routinely applied in forensic science to answer human- and non-human-related questions. This paper provides a broad overview of forensic DNA analysis, and describes the differences between DNA analysis of single specimen and complex soil DNA mixtures. We also highlight key areas of future research required for this technique to be fully utilized in casework.