CLS Investigation: Exploiting the Forensics Craze I

Diane L Davis

doi:10.29074/ascls.20.1.8

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Diane L Davis, PhD CLS(NCA)⇑
1. is Associate Professor, Salisbury University, Salisbury MD

Address for correspondence: Diane L Davis PhD CLS(NCA), Associate Professor, Clinical Laboratory Science Program, Health Sciences Department, Salisbury University, 1101 Camden Avenue, Salisbury MD 21801 (410) 548-4787, (410) 548-9185 (fax). dldavis{at}salisbury.edu.

Extract

There are similarities between clinical laboratory science (CLS) and forensic laboratory science that educators can exploit for recruitment and public relations activities. Many CLS techniques are also used in forensics and some relatively simple forensics techniques can be brought into the CLS laboratory for a cohesive laboratory experience that simultaneously exposes interested students to both fields.

Recruitment into the clinical laboratory science (CLS) field has been challenging for at least the last two decades, but the recent popularity of crime investigation television shows has sparked interest in science and laboratory work. Students are often dazzled by the idea of solving crimes without any real sense of the division of labor for criminal investigation, the nature of real laboratory work, the education required, or the job market, including salaries. CLS educators have a unique opportunity to introduce realism into students’ career choices and to discuss CLS as a viable career choice.

THE TRUTH ABOUT FORENSICS Television shows often depict characters who show up at crime scenes to gather evidence, interview suspects, and then head to the laboratory to do all the analyses. Students therefore have a poor sense of the compartmentalization that occurs in the real world. Sworn police officers who carry weapons typically do the interviewing and investigation. Specialized crime scene technicians arrive at the scene to gather and label evidence. Many forensic scientists who are the ones who actually do the various analyses rarely work outside the laboratory. Further, these scientists are typically highly specialized, doing only toxicology or…

ABBREVIATIONS: AAFS = American Academy of Forensic Science; CLS = clinical laboratory science; CODIS = combined DNA index system; DNA = deoxyribonucleic acid; FBI = Federal Bureau of Investigation; PCR = polymerase chain reaction; RFLP = restriction fragment length polymorphisms; STR = short tandem repeats; VNTR = variable numbers of tandem repeats.