Course Descriptions

BIO 136 - Introductory Forensic Science

4 Credits

This is an introductory natural science course designed for the non-science, primarily criminal justice, major. The course will cover those biological and chemical fundamentals necessary for the student to understand topics of instrumentation and techniques employed in a crime laboratory. Topics such as matter, atomic theory, chemical bonding, chromatography, hair and fiber examination, blood and drug analysis, toxicology, and DNA typing will be included. The laboratory will include demonstrations and hands-on activities of methods used to study chemical and biological evidence. This course complements the existing CRJ 209 course which emphasizes the investigative procedures involved at the crime scene. A student may earn credit for BIO 136 or CHE 136, but cannot earn credit for both courses because they are equivalent courses.

Prerequisite:MCC LEVEL 6 MATHEMATICS PLACEMENT OR MTH 098 WITH A MINIMUM GRADE OF C

New SUNY General Education: SUNY - Natural Sciences (and Scientific Reasoning)

Retiring SUNY General Education: SUNY-NS - Natural Sciences (SNSC)

MCC General Education: MCC-CT - Critical Thinking (MCT), MCC-SCI - Scientific Reasoning (MSCI)

Course Learning Outcomes
1. Explain the importance of measurements,their conversions, and their use in the metric system. Describe the structure and composition of DNA. Explain DNA replication and gene expression in the determining protein structure.
2. Be able to apply biological and chemical principles and the scientific method to forensic science.
3. Describe the basic concepts of matter, atoms,elements,chemical bonding, molecules,and chemical formulas.
4. Identify and describe types of biological molecules and their functions.
5. Describe basic cell structure and function and apply to different cell types.
6. Describe the structure and composition of DNA. Explain DNA replication and gene expression in the determining protein structure.
7. Describe the role of DNA in analyzing forensic trace evidence.
8. Explain the basic theory behind the instrumentation and techniques employed in the analysis of crime scene evidence.
9. Be able to analyze biological and chemical data collected from analytical instrumentation and draw conclusions with regards to crime scene evidence.

Course Offered Fall

Use links below to see if this course is offered:
Fall Semester 2024
Intersession 2025
Spring Semester 2025