Microbial forensics: Application to bioterrorism preparedness and response

To prepare for the next bioterrorist attack or biocrime and to deter a future event, a strong microbial forensics program is being developed. For the purpose of this article, microbial forensics is considered as an evolving subdiscipline of forensic science, which combines several scientific disciplines (eg, molecular biology, microbiology, genomics, bioinformatics, biochemistry) to analyze evidence from a bioterrorism act, biocrime, hoax, or inadvertent release, for the purpose of attribution. This article describes the field of microbial forensics, the challenges to consider, and how this emerging field is integrated into the preparedness and response of the United States to a bioterrorist attack.