Implementation of clean techniques to reduce contamination is covered in course: Forensic Biology, Module 1. More information about detailed prevention practices can be found in this module.

Read about detailed prevention practices in course: Laboratory Orientation and Testing of Body Fluids and Tissues for Forensic Analysts.

Reference and Evidentiary Sample Processing

One concern with contamination is that an individual may be falsely linked to a crime.  Reference samples are generally good quality DNA samples and result in high quantities of extracted DNA.  Many laboratories process samples in a way that isolates evidentiary samples from reference samples during the screening, extraction, and PCR stages. Therefore, the possibility of contaminating an evidentiary sample with reference DNA is avoided.

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