FIGURE 1.

Considerations for implementation of microbiome analysis in forensics and overview of factors in life and death that can influence the microbiome composition. The microbiome of the three body sites understudied in forensics (vagina, skin, and oral cavity) can be influenced by various individual factors during life, and these influences can sometimes also be detected after death. Death forms a turning point for the microbiome: the post-mortem microbiome is much more influenced by a range of environmental factors. Previously described microbiome-modulating factors in life and death are summarized, with some of the most prominent examples given of specific taxa in the oral cavity/upper respiratory tract associated with smoking during life (Wu et al., 2016), drowning as cause of death (Uchiyama et al., 2012; Benbow et al., 2015), and time that has passed since death (Adserias-Garriga et al., 2017b; Javan et al., 2017; García et al., 2020). More examples for the other body sites can be found in the text, although, to the best of our knowledge, no data are available on the post-mortem microbiome of the vagina. Implementation of microbiome analysis in forensics still requires extensive standardization of sampling and processing, as well as larger reference databases with metadata and an adjusted regulatory and ethical framework. Created with BioRender.com.