Secrets From the Crime Lab

This week's discussion is all about consent and ethical use of genetic information, including DNA databases. I define and discuss what is meant by consent and informed consent and how it's related to the treatment of Henrietta Lacks and how her story triggered the development of ethical practices in medical science. What are the responsibilities of the forensic geneticist? The law enforcement investigator? What should you think about before volunteering a DNA sample...It's a big topic, and this is only the start if the discussion.
To learn more about the host visit https://practicalforensics.science/
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Get in touch on the Contact PageHelpful links and to learn more about the topics covered in this episode:

• Genetic papers containing data from China’s ethnic minorities draw fire
• FBI Quality Assurance Standards
• ANAB guidance for professional responsibility
• Stats on sexual assaults – lack of reporting
• https://www.csofs.org/
• https://www.aafs.org/
• https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/informed-consent-requirements
• https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/common-rule
• https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fruit_of_the_poisonous_tree

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Massively Parallel Sequencing has revolutionized laboratories' ability to harness more and more information from our genetics. This has led to massive improvements in medical diagnostics, public health (think SARs-CoV-2 variant identification), ancestry determinations, and now forensic science has begun adapting this technology to criminal investigations.
In this episode I speak with Professor Megan Foley, Teresa Snyder-Leiby, and Sarah Copeland about the challenges laboratories are facing as they adopt this type of DNA testing and tools that are available not only to labs, but also to law enforcement, prosecutors, and defense - including the Innocence Project.
This episode is in partnership with the Association of Forensic DNA Analysts and Administrators (AFDAA). Visit afdaa.org to learn more about this professional organization.
Are you part of a not for profit organization and would like to have a featured episode promoting your organization or upcoming events, please email hello@secretsfromthecrimelab.
To learn more about the guests, see their bios at https://practicalforensics.science/podcast. Simply scroll down to the post for episode 9.
Megan Foley is a visiting assistant professor in Forensic Molecular Biology at the George Washington University... Her current research focuses on evaluating new products in order to develop recommendations and strategies for laboratories for implementation. Especially focusing on next generation sequencing platforms and analysis software in order to develop analytical parameter recommendations for analysis and probabilistic genotyping.

Sarah Copeland is Senior Biologist SoftGenetics (3+ years) involved in software development, testing and support for forensic fragment CE data analysis and MPS data analysis...

Teresa Snyder- Leiby (one of those older guys with about 1⁄2 her career in molecular bio, the last half in forensic DNA analyses). She obtained her degree (BS, MS, PhD) are from Juniata College, North Dakota State Univ. and Penn State. I was a technician at Penn State way back when RFLP was the new DNA fingerprinting method (mid-1980s)..... She joined SoftGenetics in 2008...
Resources
https://softgenetics.com/
Review article about MPS and mitochrondrial MPS https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/wfs2.1431
Norah Rudin and Keith Inman book mentioned in the episode https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Forensic-DNA-Analysis/dp/0849302331
Also visit ISOGG for more information about mitochondrial DNA, haplogroups, etc https://isogg.org/wiki/Wiki_Welcome_Page

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In this episode I spoke with Dr. Itiel Dror, a cognitive neuroscientist known in the forensic realm for his contributions to revealing the unconscious implicit biases in forensic decisions and providing tools to minimize them. He recently published several papers examining - for the first time - cognitive bias in forensic pathology.
The Maryland Attorney General has announced an independent audit of in-custody death determinations made by the OCME during the tenure of Dr. David Fowler. Dr. Fowler provided expert testimony for the defense in the trial of Derek Chauvin for death George Floyd. The audit team of forensic pathology experts and behavioral scientists will look to ascertain whether or not the determinations of manner of death were free from implicit biases.
"...it's important to distinguish between what I'm talking about with cognitive bias versus the way people usually talk about bias. So the usual term bias refers to intentional discrimination like racism and sexism and antisemitism, where it's intentional bias and discriminatory. I'm talking about the way the brain actually works, which affects all of us...It developed because of the architecture of the brain, but sometimes it can lead us to make mistakes, and this is where we want to minimize the way it goes off track, and the cognitive bias gives us a mistake, and it's unconscious implicit bias, so people are not aware of it." - Itel Dror
Links for this episode:
Biases in forensic experts. SCIENCE . 20 Apr 2018 Vol 360, Issue 6386 p. 243 https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.aat8443
The fallacies and sources of bias: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.analchem.0c00704
Papers of Bias in Forensic Pathology
1) First paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1556-4029.14697
2) Second paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X22000705
Linear Sequential Unmasking: an approach to minimize bias: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589871X21000310?via%3Dihub
More information and articles about the Guest: http://www.cci-hq.com/forensic-identification.html

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Following on from episode 2...this time our discussion focuses on the experiences of David Schudel, PhD as an expert in the UK. He is an expert in Forensic Chemistry, Fire Analysis, and Cell site analysis (to name a few) and over the years has become that guy who catches all the weird cases. Join us as we explore how the forensic scientist fits into the criminal justice system in England and Wales and hear about a few of those extra weird ones...
To Learn more about the host:
Angela Tanzillo-Swarts, MBE
To get in touch with the guest:
David Schudel, PhD
Please remember to rate, review, and share! And please consider supporting this podcast through a donation at the link below.

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What happens when the crime laboratory gets it wrong? In this episode we discuss the issues with relying solely on laboratory accreditation to determine if a forensic science laboratory is doing the testing correctly, what happens when a lab fails as it did in Washington, D.C., and how other laboratories manage to recover and regain customer confidence. We explore how organizations like the Texas Forensic Science Commission work to ensure quality forensic science work by taking action and the better way for laboratories to respond and improve after a complaint.
Comments? Feedback? Suggestions? Or if you would like to be a guest?
Email: [email protected]
To learn more about the host, Angela Swarts, visit:
practicalforensics.science
Helpful Links:
Forensic Aid, LLC
Tiffany Roy, MSFS, JD
Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC)
SNA International Audit Report
DC Lab Criminal Case Filing
Texas Forensic Science Commission

Ways listeners can support the show

Support the show

Want to be on an episode? Have ideas for an episode you would like to hear? Want to sponsor the podcast? General enquiry?
email [email protected]