MEDICAL LAB TECHNICIAN

Medical technology has long played an important role in the detection of criminals. Identification of DNA, hair, and blood can put a suspect at the scene of the crime beyond doubt. A whole specialty of forensic medicine has developed in response to this technology. Now, a tiny subspecialty is emerging: wildlife forensics.

Wildlife forensics, including ballistics and toxicology (the study of poisons), can pinpoint the cause of an animal's death. Animal clues can lead to “whodunit,” just as in the case of a human victim. Perpetrators are prosecuted for killing endangered species, for hunting out of season, for poaching, and for transporting animals illegally. This field is expected to grow in the years ahead and will need technicians to do the microscopic analysis.