LOOK: How To Create 3D Portraits From Discarded DNA

Next time you throw away a cigarette butt or a piece of chewing gum have a little think where it could end up.

If American artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg finds it it you could find your DNA being used as part of a cool - but rather creepy - art project called 'Stranger Visions'.

Dewey-Hagborg sequences DNA from hair, nails, cigarette end and chewing gum found in public places on to create 3D portraits of the owner.

There are limitations. A person's age can't be identified from DNA so all the portraits look around 25.

As for accuracy, Dewey-Hagborg says they are likely to have a "family resemblance" rather than an identical copy.

She writes on her blog:

And suddenly I imagine that Im a forensic biologist, and Ive captured this hair as evidence and extracted its DNA, and Ive analyzed it to create a literal, figurative portrait of what this person looks like.

And the funny thing is that once you start thinking about it, you start seeing evidence everywhere: public bathrooms, the sidewalk, a bar- people are leaving their DNA all over the place all the time!

It's a fascinating concept and as well as the artistic implications raises interesting questions about the ethics and ease of being able to profile someone's DNA.

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LOOK: How To Create 3D Portraits From Discarded DNA