STONY BROOK, NY--(Marketwire -05/17/12)- Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (APDN.OB) announces that its smartDNA anti-theft system will be used by police in Sweden to deter theft of copper wire and other copper electrical components in the Sweden national rail system. APDN's smartDNA will be used as evidence marking on the rail system's often-stolen copper wire and other parts. Applied to the metal, which has skyrocketed in price since 2009, a unique, permanent smartDNA mark will forever associate the specific copper directly to a specific crime. The plant-derived DNA is extremely robust, and has proven highly resistant to harsh weather and to criminals' attempts to clean it from stolen product. Used widely in Sweden and the United Kingdom, smartDNA has proved a powerful deterrent.

The smartDNA security system will be used on a stretch of rail track, in a test beginning shortly. Depending on results, the product could be used nationally on the extensive Sweden rail system.

"Thieves get DNA on them and at the same time, we can link what they have stolen to a specific location. Then we can prosecute them for more serious crime than we do now," stated Harly Nilsen a Sweden Transport Administration maintenance officer.

Anders Burn, Detective Superintendent and head of the surveillance unit at the regional Criminal Investigation Department in Stockholm, agreed with Nilsen, saying "The police are often successful in finding copper theft suspects, along with their haul of copper. But, legally, if we cannot link them to a specific crime we have to let them go, along with the copper itself. smartDNA may help greatly in this problem."

The initiative was met with approval in the U.S. by the former chairman of the U.S. National Grid, Robert Catell, who commented:

"I have been following Applied DNA Sciences for some time and think this is the beginning of a great application of their technology. I applaud the creative thinking of the Swedish Transport Administration and the Swedish Police for their forward-thinking actions."

Theft of copper has become an enormous problem in Sweden and globally. Copper is commonly used in critical infrastructure, such as the rail systems and power grid. On April 10, 2012, rail traffic connecting Stockholm, Malm, and Copenhagen was brought to a standstill after thieves severed the high-voltage overhead lines in order to steal the valuable copper wire inside. Passengers on ten trains that travel on a stretch of track on the Southern Main Line (Sdra stambanan) in south central Sweden were forced to disembark.

"We have to view this as a problem for society when the thefts are so widespread that they can be compared with the sabotage of important societal infrastructure," Sweden Transport Administration chief, Gunnar Malm, said in a statement.

The adoption of smartDNA to fight copper theft follows the decision of the Swedish National Police Board (RPS) to use the security technology in covert police operations nationwide in Sweden starting in June. A spray form of the product is already used in over forty jewelry stores as an anti-intruder system. In the United Kingdom, a similar, and award-winning APDN system has been used since 2009 to apply an evidence mark on cash in transit to and from banks, with great success.

"DNA evidence marking is well proven in the UK, and they have convictions," said Nilsen.

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Applied DNA Sciences smartDNA(R) System to Protect Against Copper Theft in Sweden