Dewey-Hagborg began collecting DNA samples on the streets of New York and took them to Genspace, a community biology lab. After analyzing the samples, she used a computer to predict and model the faces of those who left them behind. She then used a 3D printer to print out life-like faces.
Of course there is no way of knowing for sure if these faces portray actual people who left their DNA behind, but this experiment reveals the wealth of personal information that could be available to anyone from such simple actions. Because of this, there are products that contain "erasing agents" such as bleach, that can be bought and used to delete your DNA off any sample you might have left behind.
This article is completely mind-blowing! To think a simple strand of someones hair could reveal so much, even being able to reconstruct their face is astonishing. I wonder if in the future everyone will carry around products that can erase their DNA off anything they might have or touched. This mindset of needing to keep ones DNA secretive, even off a piece of gum, can either be a great change for the future, or turn into something awful with paranoia running rampant.
I think this is absolutely amazing, the fact that she can simulate what they would look like from a strand of hair is crazy. Although she is not sure if it was right, it would be cool to do a double blind experiment with this and see if she can correctly recreate a person's face from a strand of hair.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Adelina!! This is truly incredible! That would honestly be such a breakthrough in science if she was correctly able to identify someones face and their features from one strand of their hair.
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