Online Forensic DNA Training
The following free, self-paced, online courses are designed to help criminal justice professionals preserve, identify, analyze, and present DNA evidence.
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Course Catalog
Skip to courses for: Law Enforcement Officers | Officers of the Court | Forensic Analysts
- Law Enforcement Officers
- First Responding Officers—What Every Law Enforcement Officer Should Know About DNA Evidence
- Focuses on issues that arise for the first-responding law enforcement officer during the identification, preservation, and collection of DNA evidence at a crime scene. Take the course.
- Investigators and Evidence Technicians—What Every Law Enforcement Officer Should Know About DNA Evidence
- Delivers indepth information for the investigating officer or evidence technician on the identification, preservation, and collection of DNA evidence at a crime scene. Take the course.
- Officers of the Court
- Principles of Forensic DNA for Officers of the Court
- An interactive resource to educate and assist, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges in forensic DNA cases. Take the course.
- DNA—A Prosecutor's Practice Notebook
- This course will assist State and local prosecutors in preparing DNA-related cases for prosecution. Take the course.
- Forensic Analysts
- Crime Scene and DNA Basics
- Provides information in the two lessons Evidence at the Crime Scene and History and Types of Forensic DNA Testing. Take the course.
- Laboratory Orientation and Testing of Body Fluids and Tissues
- This course addresses basic procedures, safety requirements, and quality assurance programs and gives an overview of historical and contemporary techniques used to characterize body tissues. Take the course.
- Laboratory Safety Programs
- Addresses laboratory safety requirements and the components of a safety program. Take the course.
- DNA Extraction and Quantitation
- Addresses DNA analysis considerations, organic extraction, Chelex®100 extraction, other extraction techniques, and quantitation. Take the course.
- DNA Amplification
- Provides an overview of amplification and addresses locus selection, multiplexing, and contamination. Take the course.
- Amplified DNA Product Separation
- Provides an overview of amplification and electrophoresis and addresses capillary electrophoresis and sample preparation and handling. Take the course.
- STR Data Analysis and Interpretation
- Addresses STR (Short Tandem Repeat) data analysis and interpretation software, data troubleshooting, and date interpretation and allele calls. Take the course.
- Population Genetics and Statistics
- Provides information on population genetics and statistics and probability. Take the course.
- Communication Skills, Report Writing, and Courtroom Testimony
- Addresses general communications skills, report writing, and courtroom testimony for forensic analysts. Take the course.
- Non-STR DNA Markers: SNPs, Y-STRs, LCN and mtDNA
- Discusses a variety of non-STR markers that methods may be used to obtain more probative investigative information. Take the course.
- Advanced and Emerging DNA Techniques and Technologies
- Discusses miniaturization techniques, robotics, and expert systems. Take the course.
- Hair Evaluation for DNA Analysis
- This course is designed to assist DNA analysts in learning the preliminaries of forensic hair examination. It is not a full hair analysis course. This course is not available on DNA.gov. It is a non-credit course offered by the West Virginia University. It is open to anyone but is free only to public laboratory employees with supervisor approval. Learn more about registering and taking this course.
