Architecture and Engineering to Support Forensic DNA Labs

The march of progress for forensic DNA technology has followed a steady beat over the last few decades. By necessity, the brick-and-mortar facilities designed to support this technology have had to advance somewhat incrementally to support evolving DNA evidence technology and handling protocols, improving in three distinct stages. These phases of evolution—driven not only by forensic equipment and procedures, but also by improvements in engineered building systems—help forensic DNA experts evaluate how buildings and spaces can better support today’s rapidly evolving field.

Architects who have been involved in forensic facility design since the mid-1980s have closely witnessed these phases of change and the associated facility design challenges. At times, this intimate relationship with the world of forensics has forced engineers and architects to participate directly in accommodating major advances in technology and evidence.

Background
The laboratory processes associated with forensic DNA were pioneered in 1984 by the British geneticist Dr. Sir Alec Jeffreys of the University of Leicester. Dr. Jeffreys laid the groundwork for the architectural and engineering planning and programming of the basic forensic DNA laboratory module. The earliest advances led by Jeffreys’ work in forensic DNA (then called “DNA fingerprinting” but currently referred to as “DNA profiling”) built on the techniques devised for restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP), and his laboratory was widely imitated. In the United States, facility layouts and infrastructure also adhered to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) guidelines. In time, the development of forensic applications of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencers led to new types of equipment and process needs that affected lab adjacencies and furnishings, as well as new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) system loads.

The early developments of forensic DNA took place in the forensic laboratory’s serology section, a lab space designed specifically for ABO blood typing. The advent of DNA in the crime lab essentially resulted in ametamorphosis of the relatively rudimentary serology section into highly complex and demanding spaces for forensic DNA, overlaid with a rigorous, linear procedural structure to ensure proper evidence handling and treatment.

The three main phases of change that followed are not clearly delineated: DNA labs evolved at different times and different rates in different places, and there are few rigid lines separating them. For example, effective protocols and equipment types carried over from one phase to the next.Afew constants also emerged with time. Caseloads have steadily increased, on a per-facility and per-square-foot basis. Concern has intensified regarding cross-contamination, particularly where amplified DNA product is concerned. These aspects, coupled with a never-ending march of equipment advances, have dramatically affected facility engineering and architectural design.

 
The Ontario Forensic Services and Coroner’s Complex in Toronto, currently in the design phase, will contain a forensic DNA section.