Innovation and Technology

Techniques and Technology That Leads the Field

As a student, you’ll learn the latest forensics science skills and techniques and work with the same instruments used in professional crime labs across the country. 

Criminalistics Lab

Our Criminalistics Lab features three GC-MS instruments used for: 

  • Drug analysis (Seized Drug Analysis or Toxicology)
  • Arson investigations
  • Detecting the presence of ignitable liquids/residues in collected samples
  • Trace Evidence, for the analysis of extracts from general unknowns 

There are two FTIR instruments used for analyzing a wide range of organic materials, including drugs, powders/solids, polymers, liquids and some gases. Our FTIR microscope is used for the analysis of trace evidence, such as fibers and paint chips.  

Some sessions classes are held at the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Crime Laboratory, where you’ll be exposed to: 

  • Headspace GC-FID/MS for the analysis of ethanol and other volatiles
  • LC-MS/MS for the analysis of drugs in biological samples
  • LC-TOF/MS, which is primarily used for preliminary screening of toxicology samples, but can also be used for confirmation
  • UV-Vis spectrophotometry for the analysis of paints, fibers, and other trace evidence
  • Raman spectroscopy, which is used as a companion technique to FTIR in the analysis of certain trace evidence (it can also be used for preliminary screening of seized drugs)
  • Polarized Light Microscopy for the analysis of various types of trace evidence 

DNA Lab

We have the instrumentation and chemistry used in crime labs for DNA analysis, from sample collection to the generation of a DNA profile, including: 

Chemistry

  • DNA Extraction: DNA IQ™ System (Promega), QiAmp DNA Investigator (Qiagen)
  • DNA Quantification: Quantifiler™ Trio DNA Quantification Kit (ThermoFisher)
  • DNA Amplification: PowerPlex Fusion®System (Promega) \

Instrumentation

  • DNA Quantification: ABI 7500 Real-Time PCR System (ThermoFisher)
  • DNA Amplification: ABI 9700 Thermocyclers
  • DNA Profiling: ABI SeqStudio (ThermoFisher) 

We have an Oxford NanoPore MinION, which allows us to perform massive parallel sequencing (also known as next generation sequencing) 

We teach body fluid identification using both classic and current techniques, including: 

  • Saliva: radial diffusion, Phadebas® tablets, RSID™ Saliva (Independent Forensics)
  • Blood: Kastle-Meyer, luminol, ABA Card® Hematrace (Abacus Diagnostics)
  • Semen: acid phosphatase, KPIC stain, RSID™ Semen (Independent Forensics)