Standards and Guidelines Regarding Validation

Within the United States, the FBI's DNA Advisory Board (DAB) Standards govern forensic DNA analysis both for casework and database applications. Section 8 of the DAB standards speak specifically to the topic of validation but only in broad terms. Rather than providing specific recommended numbers for various studies, the focus of the DAB standards is on “appropriately documenting” developmental and internal validation along with material modifications.

The Revised Validation Guidelines from the FBI's Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods  (SWGDAM) were published in Forensic Science Communications in July 2004. The Guidelines state that internal validation studies should encompass a total of at least 50 samples (some studies may not be necessary due to the method itself).

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