Laboratory Services

Using cutting-edge science to solve cases and prevent acts of crime and terror.

That’s what the FBI Laboratory has been about since 1932, when our first crime lab was born. Today, it’s a full-service operation, with some 500 scientific experts and special agents working in a state-of-the-art facility in rural Virginia, traveling the world over on assignment and providing forensic exams, technical support, expert witness testimony, and advanced training to Bureau personnel and partners around the globe. Whether it’s examining DNA to help determine guilt or innocence…analyzing the fingerprints left at a crime scene…or linking exploded bomb fragments to terrorists, the men and women of the FBI Laboratory are dedicated to using the rigors of science to protect and defend the nation.

Explore Our Services

Biometric Analysis
- Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)
- Latent Print
- Mitochondrial DNA
- Nuclear DNA

Forensic Response
- Chemical, Biological, Radiological, & Nuclear Sciences
- Crime Scene Documentation
- Evidence Response Team
- Hazardous Evidence Response
- Photography & Imaging
- Scientific Response
- Technical Hazards Response

Forensic Science Support
- Evidence Control
- Forensic Imaging

Scientific Analysis
- Chemistry
- Counterterrorism & Forensic Science Research
- Cryptanalysis & Racketeering
- Firearms/Toolmarks
- Questioned Documents
- Trace Evidence

Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center (TEDAC)
- Explosives

More About Us
- Laboratory Annual Report
- Forensic Services Handbook (pdf)
- Forensic Science Communication
- Scientific Working Groups
- News and Features
- Laboratory Positions

Building Scientific Skills

Inside the ‘Body Farm’ Follow our evidence experts as they get hands-on training on the science of human decomposition. Details

Operational Capabilities

	Technology on Display See some of the sophisticated equipment we use in our cases and operations—from small robots to large mobile vehicles. Details