| American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) | An international society devoted to maintaining the highest standards of practice at crime laboratories; conducts an accreditation program for laboratories and education programs for lab -personnel.
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| Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) | A computerized system, maintained by the FBI, that stores and compares millions of fingerprints and is used to find matches for identification purposes.
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| crime laboratory | A scientific organization that analyzes material collected from crime scenes and suspects to help determine whether a crime was committed and, if so, how, when, and by whom it was committed.
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| criminalistics | The application of scientific disciplines, such as geology, physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics, to criminal investigation and the study of physical evidence.
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| deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) | A nucleic acid consisting of the molecules that carry the body's genetic material and establish each person as separate and distinct.
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| FBI Crime Laboratory | A comprehensive forensic laboratory that conducts a broad range of scientific analyses of evidence and provides experts to testify in relation to analysis results; offers its services without charge to state and local law enforcement agencies.
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| forensic science | The examination, evaluation, and explanation of physical evidence in terms of law.
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| Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) | Maintained by the FBI, a national online fingerprint and criminal-history database with identification and response capabilities; may be accessed by local law enforcement agencies.
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| mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) | DNA found in the mitochondria of a cell; inherited only from the mother, it thus serves as an identity marker for maternal relatives.
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| morgue | A crime lab that determines cause of death; when the cause is questionable or is other than a known disease, conducts analyses that produce investigative information.
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| nuclear DNA | DNA found in the nucleus of a cell; inherited from both the mother and the father.
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| rules of evidence | Federal evidentiary rules which state that scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge is admissible if it will help the trier of fact understand the evidence or determine a fact at issue.
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