Enhanced: Microbial Forensics--Cross-Examining Pathogens

An impressive demonstration of DNA polymorphism detection and analysis by genomic comparison of two Bacillus anthracis strains reveals the potential power of microbial forensics (Read et al.). In this Perspective, Cummings and Relman discuss how detecting molecular variations between related microbial strains can be used to infer the origin and transmission route of a microbial strain that has caused an infectious disease outbreak either naturally or through manipulation as a bioweapon.

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http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/296/5575/1976