Faster DNA Testing

tkjtkj writes "Physorg.com is reporting that a Rochester,NY, company, 'Thermal Gradients, Inc' has produced a new method of DNA analysis that can reduce the required time from hours to minutes that the usual 'Polymerase Chain Reacion' (PCR) takes to produce the large quantity of sample DNA needed to identify the donor. This could,conceivably, make "Instant DNA Identification" a reality! Will air travel now require one to arrive at the airport 5 minutes earlier than usual, to provide a skin-swab sample before boarding the plane?"

Comments

Your DNA

[Jozer99]

Your DNA says you don't have a bomb, so go right ahead and board! Have a nice day!

Only 5 minutes??

[SegFaultCM]

Only 5 minutes? No, check the math. Assume 100 people (though it could be FAR more). Each person needs 5 minutes, so you'd need to be there 500 minutes early (8 1/3 hours). I really doubt they'd have that many machines laying around, so multitasking the scans is an improbability.

Re:Only 5 minutes??

[Stevyn]

Jeez, have you no imagination?

Here's how a system could work. You load people one by one on a conveyor belt. As they move along, you take a blood, hair, or semen sample. Then a machine quickly and painlessly prints a temporary barcode on their forehead. Then they continue to move along the conveyor belt.

In about 5 minutes, the DNA is determined and compared against a database of known Un-Americans. At this time, a laser barcode reader down the line scans each head and if an enemy of the state is found, they are quickly escorted off either by trained guards or another piece of machinery for re-classification.

So what's the problem? Barcodes and conveyor belts have been around for years.

Re:Only 5 minutes??

[yerfatma]

As they move along, you take a blood, hair, or semen sample.

It takes 5 minutes? Must require two semen samples.

Re:Only 5 minutes??

[TheRaven64]

Since this is Slashdot, I'll give a computer-related analogy. Once upon a time, there were silicon chips which could do calculations. They did them one at a time, waiting for one to be completed before starting the next one. Then someone came up with the idea of pipelining. You would start fetching one instruction while the previous one was being decoded, and start decoding it while the previous one was executing. Next, someone came up with the idea of a superscalar design - you could have two or more of these pipelines, and as long as a pair of instructions didn't depend on each other, you could execute them at once.

You see how this fits? You take the DNA sample, let people proceed to the next phase (e.g. baggage checking). Then, you scan their passports five or more minutes later and stop them if their DNA doesn't match.

popular application

[Douglas Simmons]

Sometimes I envision doomsday scenarios, like getting a call from a pro-life booty-call saying she's having my baby, but my homies done seen her 'round the block. Dig?

Picture your own scenario. A paternity test is probably the most hostile confrontational gesture one could make toward a woman with whom one's engaged in a relationship; but sometimes, let's face it, it has to be done. What would make this less confrontational would be if DNA testing was quick and easy, not a whole to-do schlep. Just like signing a pre-nup in a world where lawyers weren't needed for that.

So if paternity testing could be relegated to a "By the way, would you mind" kind of matter, the greater piece of mind could-be dads would have jumping into a shotgun wedding. In short, the quicker we can tweak up the ol' Polymerase Chain Reacion, the more red state skanks we can get with safely.

What about the research benefits?

[achesterase]

Of course, the OP did not mention the huge positive effects accelerated PCR will have on research (particularly in molecular biology and biochemistry). It's fine recognizing new technology's potential for misuse, but this article's summary is just plain FUD.

Whoa giddy.

[LiquidCoooled]

They have a tiny oven which can:
While other miniature PCR devices exist, they are limited in the rate at which they can change temperature, Grover said. "Our first prototype has demonstrated that we can expose the sample to the required temperatures at unprecedented rates," he said.

Now, lets look at just whats needed to do the PCR reaction (just one of the variations taken from here:

If you are using DNA Thermal Cycler (TCI, the DNA Thermal Cycler Model 4800 or any thermal cycler requiring light mineral oil overlay.

        * Place the tubes in the thermal cycler and begin thermal cycling as follows:
        * For the first cylce only, ramp to 96 C for 1-5 minutes to completely denature DNA template then proceed with sequencing PCR steps.
        * Rapid thermal ramp to 96C
        * 96C for 30 seconds
        * Rapid thermal ramp to 50C
        * 50C for 15 seconds
        * Rapid thermal ramp to 60C
        * 60C for 4 minutes
        * Repeat Step 2 for 25 cycles
        * Rapid thermal ramp to 4C and hold. Samples can be started in the evening and purified the next day if necessary
        * Proceed with Purifying Extension Products.

They might be able to change temperature quicker, but they haven't invented a new way to perform the reaction.

minor upgrade, no digg.

When will they realize

[Elrac]

Confirming identity does nothing toward confirming non-terrorism. The attackers of 9/11 were fully legal American residents, maybe even citizens, and even the most expensive and invasive of identity tests would not have disclosed their terrorist intent.

Reasons why this would be considered for TSA purposes: (1) It will make some ignorant people feel more secure; (2) It will facilitate all kinds of other investigations, mostly related to the War On Drugs; (3) it will provide another opportunity for pork projects and kickbacks for government officials.

acid trip

[digitaldc]

Sorry, but you are not allowed to bring acid of any kind on board, not even Deoxyribonucleic.