BINF 637 - Forensic DNA Sciences

Time: Spring 2009

Location: TBA

Instructor: J. Kinser

Text: J. M. Butler, Forensic DNA Typing, Second Edition: Biology, Technology, and Genetics of STR Markers, Elsevier, 2nd Edition.



This course is an introduction to human identification use forensic DNA profiles. This course will encapsulate laboratory processes of extracting DNA information and explore the statistics of identification within large populations. To enhance this course a new simulation tool will be used to provide students with hands-on scenarios.

Students should have a basic knowledge of statistics.

Syllabus

  1. Preliminary Information

  2. Introduction to the Tir Ebensëa simulation

  3. A Crime Scenario

  4. Short Tandem Repeats

  5. Solving a scenario with STRs

  6. Review of Pertinent Statistics

  7. Computational Tools: Spreadsheets and Databases

  8. Population Sampling

  9. mtDNA

  10. Migration Studies and Simulation

  11. Phylogenetic Trees

  12. Missing Persons

  13. YSTR

  14. Complications: degraded DNA, mixtures