Question: The DNA Advisory Board (DAB) was established by the director of the FBI under the DNA Identification Act of 1994 to operate for a period of 5 years and consisted of 13 voting members during its 1995 - 2000 tenure. One of the primary purposes of the DAB was to recommend standards for quality assurance in conducting analysis of DNA and to provide guidance to forensic analysts performing those DNA analyses. The original Quality Assurance Standards (QAS) for forensic DNA testing laboratories were issued in October 1998 and were followed 6 months later by the QAS for convicted offender DNA databasing laboratories. In July 2009, the original QAS were superseded by revised Quality Assurance Standards (rQAS) for Forensic Labs and rQAS for DNA Data basing Labs based on input from the FBI-sponsored Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM), a group of about 50 local, state, and federal U.S. scientists that meets semiannually to review and evaluate issues of interest to the forensic DNA community.
The following seventeen topics are covered by the rQAS (and original QAS):
1. SCOPE
2. DEFINITIONS
3. QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM
4. ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
5. PERSONNEL
6. FACILITIES
7. EVIDENCE/SAMPLE CONTROL
8. VALIDATION
9. ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES
10. EQUIPMENT CALIBRATION AND MAINTENANCE
11. REPORTS/DOCUMENTATION
12. REVIEW
13. PROFICIENCY TESTING
14. CORRECTIVE ACTION
15. AUDITS
16. SAFETY
17. OUTSOURCING
Asnoted in the scope, the standards describe the quality assurance requirements that laboratories performing forensic DNA testing or utilizing the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) must follow to ensure the quality and integrity of the data generated by the laboratory. These standards also apply to vendor laboratories that perform forensic DNA testing and DNA databasing in accordance with Standard 17. These standards do not preclude the participation of a laboratory, by itself or in collaboration with others, in research and development of procedures that have not yet been validated.