DNA 'Fog' Marks Criminals Invisibly for Later ID

For years banks have rigged bags of money with exploding dye packs, which show the cash was stolen and mark the thief. Now DNA can do the same job -- without the suspect being aware of it.

This isn't using the criminal's own DNA to track him or her -- it's engineered, artificial gene sequences that act like bar codes. They can be applied to goods or people to uniquely identify them, and be made to glow under certain kinds of light or be read by swabbing them and reading the sequence chemically.

DNA marking is already being used on objects for tracking by law enforcement agencies in the United States and the U.K.

The latest version of the technology comes from Stony Brook, N.Y.-based Applied DNA Sciences. It's called "DNA Fog." The device fills a room with smoke to confuse an intruder. The smoke isn't just to make it hard for the person to see; it also contains droplets loaded with DNA. If the person escapes, they are still covered with it, and it's invisible.

The DNA stays on the skin for about two weeks and is hard to wash out of clothing. And even if the burglar ditches her clothes in a dumpster, she'd have to lose the shoes, too.

"It's amazing how many people will dump their clothes but not their shoes," said Mitchell Warren Miller, director of digital strategy at Applied DNA. The "tag" of DNA lasts about two weeks.

Should that person get arrested, police would swab them and read the sample using a chemical process called polymerase chain reaction. PCR amplifies the genetic material, essentially making it easier to spot, and is simple and cheap enough that it can be done by amateurs. If the sequence from Applied DNA shows up, then it's a good bet they were in the vicinity when the DNA Fog device went off.

The DNA sequence can be altered, so any business that has it can have it's own unique code -- like tagging an intruder with the name and address.

It's an adaptation of a system Applied DNA uses to track goods, by marking them with DNA that glows when exposed to certain kinds of light, except in this case the DNA marks a person invisibly.

In the U.K., Selectamark Security Systems' makes several devices to get a DNA tag onto someone. One is a "defense spray" like pepper spray, which is geared to security guards and police who might want to identify someone who attacked them at close range. Another is a grease and gel that mark door handles or goods.

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DNA 'Fog' Marks Criminals Invisibly for Later ID