Aims of the course:
- To introduce students to genetics
- To show how genetics can be used by forensic students
- To introduce participants to different cases where genetics has been used to solve crimes, this will include crime where the suspect is guilty, but also some recent cases where genetics has been used to exonerate people who have been imprisoned for a crime they did not commit
Target audience
- Anyone who is interested in forensic science, this could be through tv programmes, novels or what they read in the newspapers.
- Previous forensic science courses have attracted students who are 18 years old up to retired students (the Bedford retirement education centre course in 2011 attracted 17 students). These students were from all different backgrounds and had a variety of interests.
- Students who have taken the Forensic science: poisoning online course.
Learning outcomes:
As a result of the course, within the constraints of the time available, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of genetics
- Show knowledge of how genetics can be utilised in a forensic investigation
- Show an understanding of some of the ethics issues surrounding genetics and its use in forensic science, for example the National DNA Database
Course content overview:
This course will begin with an introduction to genetics, describing what DNA is and the basics of inheritance. There will also be an introduction to forensic science. The course will then combine these two topics to examine how DNA and genetics can be utilised in a criminal investigation. We will look at different types of DNA which might be useful in a forensic case. We will see how DNA can be collected at a crime scene, how it is examined in the laboratory and we will also analyse these DNA profiles generated in the laboratory. Throughout the course specific forensic case studies will help to illustrate the points being made. This course will look at how genetics has changed over the years and the effects that this has had to forensic investigation, we will also look at how future advances in genetics might affect future criminals and investigations.
Schedule (this course is completed entirely online):
Orientation Week: 24-30 May 2021
Purpose/Learning outcomes: By studying this week the students should have:
- Become familiar with navigating around the VLE and from VLE to links and back
- Tested their ability to access files and the web conferencing software and sorted out any problems with the help of the eLearning team
- Investigated the ICE Online Resources repository
- Learnt how to look for, assess and reference internet resources
- Used Qmail to introduce themselves to other students
- Contributed to a discussion forum to introduce themselves to other students and discuss why they are interested in the course, what they hope to get out their studies and also to respond to News item sent out on behalf of tutor
Teaching Weeks: 31 May-4 July 2021
Week 1 Introduction to forensic genetics
Purpose: The purpose of this week is to introduce students to the basics of genetics and forensic science. By studying this week the students should have:
- A basic understanding of genetics
- What is genetics
- What is DNA
- Structure of DNA
- Basics of inheritance
- An understanding of forensic science
- What is the role of a forensic scientist
- An understanding of the role of genetics in forensic science
Week 2 Collecting and examining DNA
Purpose: To show students how DNA is located at a crime scene, how it can be collected and how it is extracted from the sample. By studying this week the students should have:
- An understanding of how DNA can be identified at a crime scene
- An understanding of which samples might contain DNA (human DNA, plant DNA, animal DNA)
- Knowledge of how DNA can be extracted from a cell
- Knowledge of the types of analysis which can be completed using DNA
- DNA extraction
- Polymerase chain reaction
- Restriction fragment length polymorphism
- DNA extraction from a single cell
Week 3 DNA profiling
Purpose: To show students how to examine a DNA profile. One DNA profile will be used as an example, then the students will work their way through a second profile to demonstrate their understanding. We will also discuss the importance that is placed on DNA evidence by the public and during court cases. Many people feel that if the suspects DNA is found at a crime scene they must have committed the crime, but this may not be the case. By studying this week the students should have:
- Knowledge of how to analyse a DNA profile
- Knowledge of the statistical analysis relating to DNA profiles
- Knowledge of how to confirm or disprove a DNA profile match
- An understanding of how the statistics used during course cases (for example 1 in a billion chance of the DNA belonging to someone else) is calculated
- An understanding of the differences in DNA between unrelated individuals and family members
Week 4 Other types of DNA
Purpose: To introduce students to other types o f DNA which can be used to solve crimes. We will examine the use of mtDNA in identifying unknown remains, for example its role in the torso in the Themes case, and its use in identifying victims of the September 11th World Trade Centre attack. We will also look at the expanding field of plant DNA in forensic science. This has been used to like the suspect themselves or vehicles to crime scenes. By studying this week the students should have:
• Knowledge of mitochondrial DNA, its structure and mode of inheritance
• An understanding of the use of mtDNA in forensic cases involving identification
• Knowledge of chloroplast DNA
• An understanding of the use of chloroplast DNA in forensic cases
Week 5 Ethical issues relating to DNA
Purpose: To examine the ethical issues relating to DNA profiles. This week we will discuss the National DNA Database. We will look at the advantages and potential disadvantages associated with a National DNA Database, and discuss the prospect of a Universal DNA database. We will also look at using the DNA database for familial searches, this occurs when a DNA profile does not have a direct match with an individual, but the match is very close suggesting the suspect could be a family relation to the individual who it most closely matched on the DNA database. This week will also look at the future of DNA technology and how the field might advance in the future. By studying this week the students should have:
- An understanding of the information contained within the DNA database
- Knowledge of the ethics issues relating to the database
- An understanding of how familial searches can be used to aid a forensic investigation.
Feedback Week: 5-11 July 2021
Purpose
• Assessment of student learning
• Assessment of student satisfaction
• Encouragement of further study
Each week of an online course is roughly equivalent to 2-3 hours of classroom time. On top of this, participants should expect to spend roughly 2-3 hours reading material, etc., although this will vary from person to person.
While they have a specific start and end date and will follow a weekly schedule (for example, week 1 will cover topic A, week 2 will cover topic B), our tutor-led online courses are designed to be flexible and as such would normally not require participants to be online for a specific day of the week or time of the day (although some tutors may try to schedule times where participants can be online together for web seminars, which will be recorded so that those who are unable to be online at certain times are able to access material).
Unless otherwise stated, all course material will be posted on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) so that they can be accessed at any time throughout the duration of the course and interaction with your tutor and fellow participants will take place through a variety of different ways which will allow for both synchronous and asynchronous learning (discussion boards,etc).
A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to participants who contribute constructively to weekly discussions and exercises/assignments for the duration of the course.
What our students say:
"As my expectation the course has been extremely captivating even if I am not a beginner, I gained more about pollens and about famous cases that I never heard before. I would like to attend more courses like this one"
"I really liked the practical, "hands-on" virtual experience of actually applying the theory we learned to a crime."
"I love learning new things and this course was brilliant, thank you for sharing your knowledge, I am very glad I took this course."
"I really enjoyed the course, it was well constructed and thought through. I liked how there is a link in every week between the case and the course material. The short answers within each week was really helpful as it was able to refine my knowledge in the theoretical and practical part of forensic science, specially the DNA. I would like to thank Dr. Susan for teaching us well and for always replying to our discussions."
