DNA & Serology Unit
The Serology/DNA Unit analyzes all types of biological material submitted
as evidence from violent crimes in New Mexico and provides expert witness
testimony in criminal judicial proceedings throughout the state.
This Unit also provides training to various law enforcement and criminal
justice agencies throughout the state in the recognition, collection,
and preservation of biological evidence and in the crime laboratory’s
biological evidence capabilities. In addition to the recent ASCLD/LAB
laboratory accreditation, the DNA/Serology Unit has been certified since
1999 by the National Forensic Science Training Center, which means that
it complies with all of the FBI’s DNA Advisory Board Standards
for quality assurance for forensic DNA testing laboratories.
Utilizing state-of-the-art DNA technology and forensic serological techniques,
assailants and other individuals are routinely identified from minute
amounts of human biological material. Clothing, bedding, hairs, cigarette
butts, postage stamps, hat bands, and miscellaneous other items can often
yield biological evidence that provides valuable information in a case.
Examinations are conducted in order:
- Identify the biological material present,
- Establish that the material
is of human origin,
- Associate the material with particular individuals
as possible sources or to prove that they could not be associated.
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It normally requires less than a billionth of a gram of DNA, to produce
a full DNA profile for comparison.
The DNA/Serology Unit uses the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) process
to analyze regions of DNA called STR’s (short tandem repeats).
This typing procedure has the ability to analyze small, degraded samples
and provide a high level of information.
The DNA/Serology Unit participates in CODIS (Combined DNA Index System),
the FBI’s national DNA database program. CODIS blends forensic
science and computer technology into an effective tool for solving crimes,
by enabling federal, state, and local crime laboratories to exchange
and compare DNA profiles electronically, thereby linking crimes to each
other and to convicted offenders.
DNA & Serology Staff Contact Information
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