Could the mud and soil a person walks through be used to identify where they've been? In part two of our forensic microbiology special, we look at the ways that soil from crime scenes can help pinpoint the whereabouts of people and objects in police investigations.

We spoke to Professor Lorna Dawson from the James Hutton Institute about her work on criminal cases, and how microbiology is being used to enhance the field of soil forensics.

Image credit: Alan Cleaver on Flickr under CC BY 2.0

Music:

'Submerging Blue-Black' by Podington Bear, under CC BY-NC 3.0

'I Am Running Down the Long Hallway of Viewmont Elementary' by Chris Zabriskie, under CC BY 4.0

'Trio for Piano Violin and Viola' by Kevin MacLeod, under CC BY 3.0

'Lips' by Plurabelle under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

 

Sound Effects: From freesound.org.

'Walking1_gravel' by tec studios, under CC0 1.0

'CarStartAndDriveOff' by jmdh, under CC0 1.0

'BikeBellWhileRiding' byqubodup, under CC BY 3.0

'Woodland Birdsong June' by justkiddink, under CC BY 3.0