BIOL3792 Forensic Biology

This topic will expose students to forensic biology, from scene to court, centring on both the theory and practice of DNA based techniques. The topic will cover body fluid testing, blood pattern analysis, integration of evidence types, and how evidence must be considered against two or more hypothesis. The topic will be presented by a combination of staff from Forensic Science SA and Flinders University.

This topic aims to expose students to current industry practice for performing forensic DNA methods and data analysis. The students will learn about body fluid typing, cell transfer, PCR analysis of hypervariable regions of DNA and chromosomal abnormalities.

1. Understanding the key proficiencies expected of a forensic biologist
2. Ability to extract, amplify and interpret DNA
3. Ability to integrate evidence from a range of biological analyses
4. Show that their results are statistically valid and meet Quality Assurance and Quality Control criteria