Bioterrorism forensics: The burden of proof
If bug does not fit, you must acquit?
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Already asked by federal investigators to assist in finding the anthrax mailer, the American Society of Microbiology (ASM) is taking the next step and discussing the emerging science of bioterrorism forensics. Despite an impressive array of scientific methods, primarily used in health care epidemiology and outbreak investigations, linking a pathogen to a terrorist will not be easy. "You want to trace it back to the smoking gun,’ says Abigail Salyers, PhD, ASM president and a professor of microbiology at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. "We know how to tell what bullet came from what particular gun. But when it is bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms we really don’t have established forensics for that."
To address the issue, the ASM will hold meetings later this year that may result in a booklet on how to use molecular epidemiology techniques to establish a chain of evidence rather than identify the source of an outbreak, she says.
The methods typically used by outbreak investigators include DNA fingerprinting and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. But using such methods to link a bioterrorist to a biological weapon would be unprecedented, Salyers notes. "Suppose they find somebody [who] might have perpetrated the [anthrax attacks], and they find some spores on that person or the immediate environment."
"Trying to prove that that is the [exact strain] will be unprecedented. It is not just a question of finding the person. It is a question of what are going to be the legally binding types of evidence," Salyers explains.
Another problem in the anthrax attacks is the separation of act and outcome, she says. As opposed to a bomb exploding and leaving an immediate impact, the anthrax mailer had time to dispose of evidence after the mailings. "You have a perpetration of an act and the consequences of the act separated by nearly a month," she says. "There has been a lot of time for the perpetrator to cover up tracks. This is very different from putting nerve gas into a subway system, where the cause and effect are very close together," Salyers adds.
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