'Microbiome of death' uncovered on decomposing corpses could aid forensics

Forensic scientist in a white plastic suit collects a pair of shoes in a plastic bag in a taped off crime scene in the woods.

Microbes that lurk in decomposing human corpses could help forensic detectives establish a person's time of death, a new study finds.

The research, published Monday (Feb. 12) in the journal Nature Microbiology, involved placing 36 human cadavers in three locations during spring, summer, fall and winter. The scientists chose locations that were geographically distant from each other — in Tennessee, Texas and Colorado — and that had either a temperate, humid climate or a semiarid climate.