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Contact: Leah Barbour

STARKVILLE, Miss.--Crime-scene corpses from one of the most dangerous cities in the nation have become the focus of °®°®Ö±²¥ research.

Heather Jordan, assistant professor of biological sciences, has begun an investigation of bacteria collected from individuals who died violently in Detroit, named in November by Huffington Post as the most dangerous city in America.

The microbiology University of Tennessee doctoral graduate received a grant from the National Institute of Justice, the U.S. Justice Department's research, development and evaluation agency, for her three-year project, "Utilization of Microbial Structure and Function in Investigations of Criminal Justice."

Jordan and the other scientists involved are studying how microorganisms may have potential applications in identifying time of death.

"We will be collaborating with Michigan State University that will, among other things, be creating a repository of samples where the time of death may not yet be confirmed for future analyses," she said. "This could impact possibly long-term validations from ongoing or even unsolved investigations."

As decomposition begins, body organs once protected by the human immune system are invaded by naturally occurring microbes, Jordan explained. She's studying the number and nature of the microorganisms as their host environments change.

Jordan said many scientific studies have explored the importance of the living microbes inside healthy human beings, but little information is available about microorganisms' roles after a person dies.

In addition to Michigan State University scientists, Jordan's research involves a partnership with officials at the Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office, the county seat of Detroit, to review bone and bone marrow samples collected during autopsies.

"The samples will be collected and sent to us at Mississippi State, where we will conduct whole genome sequencing of the bacteria to determine who is there and what they are potentially doing," Jordan explained. "We also will be using statistical models to describe relationships of these bacteria to confirmed time of death estimates, and how sex, race, geographical location and manner of death influence these relationships, if at all," she said.

Jordan said another major goal of her research project involves the development and validation of new sample-collection protocols, as well as the training of death-scene investigators in the new best practices.

Because she is a scientist and teacher at Mississippi's flagship research institution, Jordan has notified officials with state medical examiner's office in Jackson of her project. Officials there have expressed interest in developing additional partnerships that may expand this research, she said.

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