Microbial Forensics--"Cross-Examining Pathogens"

Abstract
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.