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Some of the new agency lab positions are aimed at DNA, while others are focused on other tasks, from toxicology to forensic chemistry.

Michelle Carlin, an assistant professor of toxicology and forensic chemistry at Rutgers University, said she had analyzed bags of poppy seeds from different grocery stores and found that “even within the same bag, there’s a big variation in the amount of morphine, codeine and thebaine.”

There are several different roles for forensic scientists at the agency other than DNA, ranging from toxicology to forensic chemistry.

“We’ve used forensic chemistry for decades to tell people what’s in drugs after it’s too late,” said Nabarun Dasgupta, senior scientist and innovation fellow at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, where researchers are analyzing drug samples submitted by mail.

The change came months after Anthony Crispino, interim director of the Department of Forensic Sciences, testified at a city council hearing that a contract to outsource forensic chemistry work was “on hold.”