Biological & Chemical Threat Response & Forensics
4.0
creditsAverage Course Rating
This course will explore the world of chemical and biological threats ranging from the foundational scientific principles to the history of chemical and biological warfare. The chemical and biological threat methodologies for detection, identification, medical intervention, and forensic attribution will be discussed from a foreign and domestic defense standpoint. The course material covers a spectrum of topics pertaining to the use of biological and chemical agents, including the historical background of biological and chemical agents in classic and discretionary warfare, the introduction of scientific evidence in criminal proceedings and chain of custody for evidentiary materials in crimes and terrorism, quality assurance in laboratory operations, threat containment, threat characterization, toxicological assessments, decontamination and remediation, health and safety of responders and analysts, risk assessments, protection, and emerging threats. The scientific principles behind the instrumentation used to characterize, assess, and detect threats for forensic analysis of both biological (bacterial, viral, biological toxins, agricultural threats) and chemical (traditional chemical agents, toxic industrial chemicals, incapacitants) agents will be discussed. In depth molecular and chemical mechanisms of action for each chemical and biological agent will be described linking the biochemical and cellular processes responsible for the whole body symptoms observed following exposure to these threats. Medical countermeasures and/or therapeutics used to defend against chemical and biological threats will also be discussed in detail. Prerequisites: 410.603 Advanced Cell Biology, 410.615 Applied Microbiology, or approval of academic advisor.
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