What Every Law Enforcement Officer Should Know About DNA Evidence

Investigators and Evidence Technicians

Contamination

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Image of contaminated DNA sample
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) (see reuse policy).

Because extremely small samples of DNA can be used as evidence, greater attention to contamination issues is necessary when identifying, collecting and preserving DNA evidence. DNA evidence can be contaminated when DNA from another source gets mixed with DNA relevant to the case.

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