Forensic Genetics

(4 Credits)

This course explores how modern molecular genetics techniques and data are deployed by forensic science. DNA data, especially, have both in reality and in the cultural imagination become a primary tool of forensic investigation. We will look at how crime scenes are investigated, what types of data are collected, how molecular genetic information is turned from a crime scene sample to a probabilistic match to a suspect. We will review numerous case studies that illustrate how genetic data can be used (or misused) in criminal cases, mass disasters, and the search for missing persons.