BySydney Butler-September 24, 2019.335 Shed Dna-it’s all over. Each cell of your body has the blueprint of life. Your Dna can be traced back to you with incredible accuracy thanks to Dna Sequencing technology. Dna has put some pretty awful people in the world of forensic evidence behind bars. It has also exonerated many wrongly incarcerated people. So it’s understandable that sequencing Dna is regarded in a generally positive manner. Recently however, questions about Dna and privacy have been raised as the cost and ease of Dna sequencing decreases. If sequencing your Dna is easy and cheap enough for just about everyone what are the implications? Rapid Dna machines now exist which do not need specially trained scientists to work. They are inexpensive enough to fit into local police department budgets, and are already seeing practical use. Though susceptible to side-channel attacks they are already. That means companies and other organisations with some expendable income should start thinking about ways to leverage this exciting new technology. Shed Dna is a Privacy Nightmare
.336 Usually when asked for a Dna sample people provide some follicles or even some blood with a bit of saliva. Everywhere we go, however, we’re all shedding Dna heaps. The sample size needed to sequence someone’s Dna is becoming smaller and smaller to make matters worse. Dna methods so-called “contact” can now also extract Dna from fingerprints! Such general innovations lead you down a road where someone from the Dna you shed can piece your private life together. They could tell you where you were who you knew, and even medical information that should be private about yourself.It’s a bad idea to use normal leather or synthetic gloves because your Dna will be all over these of course. It’s got to be clean and disposable. It’s not ideal to wear these all the time but it’s not the worst idea if you have to touch things and you’re in a position you’d rather not be concerned with having a pair of medical gloves in your bag.
Handle your hair
Much hair is shed by humans. The hair bit itself does not contain living material but may have Dna transferred to it from other areas like your skin. The hair follicle itself is alive, so as far as Dna samples are concerned a hair with a part of the follicle still attached is the jackpot.
Do not use any Public or Disposable Utensils
Anything that you put in your mouth will be ripe for Dna. That includes cutlery in plastic knives and forks in restaurants and whatever you drink from. There have been instances in which suspected criminals are followed up before they leave a cup or utensil in their mouth behind. The “abandoned” Dna is then bagged for legal purposes, and sequenced. If for whatever reason somebody wanted a sample of your Dna nothing stops them from doing the same thing. You will circumvent this by using your own utensils, and when you leave with them. Mind Your Trash
.338 The trash is a fair game in most countries for anyone who wants to pick it up. This is why the incinerators and other harmful methods of paper shredders exist! Generally speaking, we should all be aware of what privacy violations our trash can allow but you can also add shed Dna to that list now. To anyone who feels like digging through your garbage, tissue paper plastic utensils and anything else that could be processed for contact Dna are fair game. One way to destroy the garbage is by using an incinerator. Instead, you can go on the local landfill and dispose of it yourself instead of making someone dig through it. Is it Worth It?
You’re probably thinking, reading through the above, that this seems like a pretty extreme way of living. You are absolutely right about this. The protagonist must stop discovering his true “inferior” genes in the film Gattaca. Because he pretends to be a different person. This means looking after himself obsessively, so that no hair or skin cell is left behind. The movie makes it look like a miserable life, because it is. The honest truth is there’s no way of preventing Dna from being shed. At least not one which is realistic or a good way of living. The argument is to highlight how impossible it will be to preserve a certain semblance of privacy in a world of cheap rapid Dna sequencing. A much better solution would be to impose legal restrictions Bubble Boy suit is unfortunately limited.