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

微生物及其产物在法医学中有重要用途。硅藻被用来确定溺水受害者是从哪里下水的，聚合酶链反应测试确定了犯罪受害者和被指控犯罪者之间的亲子关系。PCR和基因组测序等新技术可用于确定传染病爆发的起源，无论是自然爆发还是人为干预（生物恐怖主义）所致。如何解释分子数据的问题不应该等到判例法确定其有效性。要使任何新技术被接受，首先重要的是确定应该采用什么标准。 除了了解炭疽杆菌（炭疽病的病因）和疾病控制和预防中心（CDC）潜在生物恐怖主义制剂清单上的其他病原体的基因组序列外，还必须了解如何最好地利用这些信息。虽然有成熟的标准来评价和解释培养或血清学试验等经典方法的结果，但尚未为新的分子方法制定类似的标准。本次研讨会将1）考虑微生物法医学在应对疾病爆发中的应用（2）评估新的分子技术在什么时候和什么条件下可能是合适的，以及它们是否可以与更传统的方法结合使用;（3）确定如何最好地使用和解释基因组序列和其他分子数据; 4）建议哪些标准可以定义，哪些不能; 5）确定潜在的问题和需要通过实验来解决的领域，以便可以定义标准。美国微生物学会，美国微生物学会的荣誉领导小组，将于2002年6月6日至9日在佛蒙特州伯灵顿召开一次学术讨论会。该研讨会将汇集25-30跨学科的专家科学家，代表进化微生物学，生态学，基因组学，遗传学，生物信息学，法医学，化学和临床微生物学，对微生物法医学问题进行结构化审议。与会者将审议几种理论设想，并调查目前的分子技术，包括基因组测序，以期为评价和验证这些技术产生的数据提出标准建议。座谈会将为一份出版的报告提供知识材料，其中将对问题作出公正的陈述，并为今后提出切实可行的建议。

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.