Students will be introduced to applications of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to human and non-human forensic evidence, along with steps for implementation into casework
Students will gain hands-on experience in generating and analyzing NGS data from mock-forensic cases
Lecture Topics:
Introduction to forensic science and evidence collection
Current DNA analysis approaches used in human & nonhuman DNA casework
Benefits of NGS to the analysis of forensic evidence
Current and novel applications of NGS to the analysis of human and non-human DNA evidence
Steps for validating NGS for casework
Ethics and legal implications of NGS in forensic science
Labs:
Traditional human DNA forensic analysis
Mock case: Ancestry prediction for human investigative leads
Identifying variable mitochondrial regions for discrimination of wolves
Mock case: Fish metabarcoding – assessing seafood fraud/mis-labelling
Case report discussion on ethics and legal implications of genetic genealogy
