Conference: Microbial Forensics: A Scientific Assessment, to be held in Burlington, Vermont, Summer 2002

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Microbes and their products have important uses in forensics. Diatoms have been used to identify where drowning victims went into the water and PCR tests have established paternity and relationships between crime victims and alleged perpetrators. New technologies, like PCR and genome sequencing, could be used to establish the origin of an infectious disease outbreak, whether natural or due to intentional human intervention (bioterrorism). Questions of how to interpret molecular data should not wait until case law determines their validity. For any new technology to be accepted, it is first important to determine what standards should be applied. Knowledge of the genome sequences of Bacillis anthracis (the cause of anthrax) and other pathogens on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) list of potential bioterrorism agents must be augmented by knowledge of how this information can best be used. While there are well-established criteria for evaluating and interpreting the results of such classical methods as cultivation or serological testing, no similar criteria have been developed for the new molecular methods. This colloquium will 1) consider the use of microbial forensics in responses to disease outbreaks (including bioterrorist attacks on human populations or agriculture); 2) assess when and under what conditions new molecular techniques might be appropriate and whether they could be used in conjunction with more traditional approaches; 3) determine how genome sequences and other molecular data can be best used and interpreted; 4) suggest which standards can be defined and which cannot; and 5) identify potential problems and areas that need to be addressed experimentally so that criteria may be defined.The American Academy of Microbiology, the honorific leadership group of the American Society for Microbiology, will convene a colloquium June 6-9, 2002, in Burlington, Vermont. The colloquium will bring together 25-30 interdisciplinary, expert scientists representing evolutionary microbiology, ecology, genomics, genetics, bioinformatics, forensics, chemistry, and clinical microbiology for structured deliberation on issues in microbial forensics. Participants will consider several theoretical scenarios and survey current molecular technologies, including genome sequencing, with a view to recommending standards for evaluation and validation of the data these technologies produce. The colloquium will produce the intellectual material for a published report with unbiased statements of the issues and practical recommendations for the future.