DNA Forensices

Published

July 22, 2026

Overview

This activity explores forensic uses of DNA barcoding. Students will read about two real-life cases using DNA barcoding and consider the legal and biological consequences.

Duration: Approximately 30 minutes (help us improve this estimate!)

Learning Objectives

Prerequisites

Students will benefit from a basic understanding of genome organization and taxonomic classification, as well as some awareness of PCR and genomic sequencing methods. We suggest this activity could accompany lectures that discuss the genome or PCR methods.

Evaluation

GEMs is an NIH-funded program. Part of our mission is understanding the impact of our materials. Please take the time to review our program as an instructor after this activity. We also appreciate you distributing our survey to students before and after they participate in GEMs content.

You can view our IRB approval here. Feel free to contact the GEMs team with any questions (gems at fredhutch dot org).

Materials

Student Activity

You can use this module in several formats. Feel free to adapt to your needs!

Students do not need any outside material.

Instructor Materials

This activity can be used as the prework for the DNA Barcoding activity

Scientific Topics

Outline