Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Sep:314:110366.
doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110366. Epub 2020 Jun 20.

Biowarfare, bioterrorism and biocrime: A historical overview on microbial harmful applications

Manuela Oliveira  1 , Gabriella Mason-Buck  2 , David Ballard  2 , Wojciech Branicki  3 , António Amorim  4
Affiliations
Review

Biowarfare, bioterrorism and biocrime: A historical overview on microbial harmful applications

Manuela Oliveira et al. Forensic Sci Int. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Microbial Forensics is a field that continues to grow in interest and application among the forensic community. This review, divided into two sections, covers several topics associated with this new field. The first section presents a historic overview concerning the use of microorganisms (or its product, i.e. toxins) as harmful biological agents in the context of biological warfare (biowarfare), bioterrorism, and biocrime. Each case is illustrated with the examination of case reports that span from prehistory to the present day. The second part of the manuscript is devoted to the role of MF and highlights the necessity to prepare for the pressing threat of the harmful use of biological agents as weapons. Preventative actions, developments within the field to ensure a timely and effective response and are discussed herein.

Keywords: Biocrime; Bioterrorism; Biowarfare; Genetics; Microbial forensics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Application of Microbial Forensics with the indication of the most recent and paradigmatic examples.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Amorim A. Introduction to the special issue on forensic genetics: non-human DNA (Guest editor: Antonio Amorim) Open Forensic Sci. J. 2010:3.
    1. Oliveira M., Amorim A. Microbial forensics: new breakthroughs and future prospects. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2018;102:10377–10391. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Oliveira M., Arenas M., Pinto N., António A. Genética forense no humana. In: Caballero Barrio., editor. Genética Forense: Del laboratorio a los Tribunales, M.C. Crespillo Márquez and P. 2019. pp. 291–318. (Madrid, Ediciones Díaz de Santos)
    1. Arenas M., Pereira F., Oliveira M., Pinto N., Lopes A.M., Gomes V., Carracedo A., Amorim A. Forensic genetics and genomics: much more than just a human affair. PLoS Genet. 2017;13:e1006960. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Budowle B., Schutzer S.E., Einseln A., Kelley L.C., Walsh A.C., Smith J.A., Marrone B.L., Robertson J., Campos J. American Association for the Advancement of Science; 2003. Building Microbial Forensics as a Response to Bioterrorism. - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources