Follow that DNA
Tagent
DNA is now being used as tagent in certain chemicals. A tagent is a chemical or trace element used in a product to trace the product back to its manufacturer or distributor. It was once suggested that color coded plastics could be used in explosives to trace explosives back to their manufacturing source and distribution channels. There were not going to be enough different color choices to be effective after a period of time. It was projected that in only a few years the environment would be so contaminated with the tagents as to render these little pieces of plastic useless. Not so with DNA: The range is immense. DNA tagents are fining their way into toxic chemicals, plastics, explosives, specialty manufacturing chemicals, etc. to track the illegal usage or the source of contamination of a chemical or product. Since the development of a small lab top device (PCR Machine) that is able to replicate DNA through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with even the smallest PCR replicator a very small sample of suspect material can be used with the PCR machine to develop an amount of DNA that can be analyzed.
May I have my DNA test to go please.
Yes DNA tests faster than fast food. A new computer linked microchip device, smaller than a credit card, may soon allow DNA to be analyzed to be conducted at the crime scene (look out, OJ). The technology is being developed by Kieran Gallahue and is expected to be in police cars within in the next two years. By this time (in 2 years) it is expected that the DNA data base compiled by the FBI will be online and will afford the police the opportunity to compare crime scene DNA to the DNA data base.
