Thanatomicrobiome composition profiling as a tool for forensic investigation

Thanatomicrobiome, or the postmortem microbiome, has been recognized as a useful microbial marker of the time and location of host death. In this mini-review, we compare the experimental methods commonly applied to thanatomicrobiome studies to the state-of-the-art methodologies in the microbiome field. Then, we review present findings in thanatomicrobiome studies, focusing on the diversity of the thanatomicrobiome composition and prediction models that have been proposed. Finally, we discuss potential improvements and future directions of the field.