Instructor: Lisa Desire, MFS
Course length: 4 hours

Introduction to Investigative Genetic Genealogy

For years, people have used ancestry and genetic testing to find more about themselves – their heritage, their birth parents, a child they’ve given up for adoption, even predictions about predisposition to health conditions. The advent of current day direct-to-consumer testing companies now provides a convenient way for individuals to access their genetic information from the comfort of their own homes.

To illustrate the relationships among individuals, a genealogist traditionally combines DNA analysis with results obtained through public record searches to build out family trees. This technique is not new. What has recently come under great scrutiny, however, is the way this information is currently being utilized by law enforcement to identify criminal suspects in unsolved or cold cases.

Upon completion of this 4 hour course (3 hour lecture, 1 hour assignment), the student will become familiar with:
  • The differences between ancestry, familial searches, forensic genealogy, investigative genetic genealogy (IGG)
  • DNA and why it’s so valuable to the forensic investigation
  • Current terminology: STR analysis, sequencing, SNPs, CODIS, informed consent
  • Genotyping vs Phenotyping
  • Candidate cases for IGG: unidentified human remains, criminal investigations
  • Steps involved when using IGG to identify a person of interest
  • Popular direct-to-consumer companies and their policies for addressing law enforcement requests
  • Ethical issues, privacy issues, 4th Amendment rights
  • Misconceptions, ramifications and limitations
  • Major cold cases that have been solved using IGG
Lisa Desire, MFS
Holding a  Bachelor of Science degree in Genetic Engineering from Cedar Crest College, and her Master of Science degree in Forensic Science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She has served as an Adjunct Lecturer for Rutgers University, and spent several years working with autistic children as a Paraprofessional in an inclusive special education preschool. 

She currently serves on Hunterdon County Vocational School District’s Criminal Justice Advisory board, and the Chief Science Officer’s panel for SciTech Institute.

Lisa Desire is a former forensic scientist with the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner’s Department of Forensic Biology, the largest laboratory of its kind in North America. During her tenure, she investigated thousands of homicides, sexual assaults, and missing persons cases, and was a supervisor of victim identification for the World Trade Center attack, the most complicated forensic investigation in the history of the United States.

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