Forensic Use of RAPD Analysis in the Investigation of Bioterrorism

Abstract

The events that occurred after September 11, 2001 brought the threat of bioterrorism to the forefront. One of the most important aspects of protecting against a bioterrorism attack is the ability to rapidly identify and link separate isolates of a bioterrorism agents to a common source. In the anthrax mailings of 2001, determining whether or not they were the same strain and hence from a common source was of great importance in the investigation. We used Bacillus cereus, a strain of bacteria that is closely related to Bacillus anthracis, the bacterium responsible for anthrax, as our model system. Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), a type of analysis used to examine a genomic profile in organisms in which little or no genetic research has been accomplished, was used to study DNA profiles produced from different isolates of Bacillus cereus. This procedure is capable of distinguishing between Bacillus and non-Bacillus isolates and demonstrates genetic differences between strains of Bacillus cereus. Thus, this procedure can be utilized to link isolates used in bioterrorism attacks to each other and to a common source.