Forensic Biotechnology

Catalog description

This course is intended to familiarize the students with an understanding of scope and use of biotechnological techniques in forensic sciences, which include criminal investigation, civil cases (paternity testing), and wildlife conservation and management (endangered species), diagnosis of inherited diseases, tissue and organ transplantation, personal and organism identification. This course will be conducted as both lecture and laboratory exercises. The students will learn how to collect, preserve, analyze and interpret biological evidence in forensic contexts: (hair, blood, saliva, semen, tooth pulp, and other tissues). It provides an overview of the techniques and problems related to application of biotechnology in different fields. Major topics will be addressed, such as categories of biological evidence, DNA fingerprinting, blood and serology, hair and fiber analysis, fingerprinting, forensic pathology. Current and historical cases will be used to illustrate examples of good and poor quality investigations and updates to new technologies and breakthroughs will be emphasized.