Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scientists Attach Bar Codes To Embryos

Posted by samzenpus on from the I-got-the-number-when-I-was-young dept.

Zothecula writes "Fans of the film Blade Runner may remember a scene in which the maker of an artificial snake is identified by a microscopic serial number on one of its scales. Well, in a rare case of present-day technology actually surpassing that predicted in a movie, we've now gone one better — bar codes on embryos. Scientists from Spain's Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), along with colleagues from the Spanish National Research Council, have successfully developed an identification system in which mouse embryos and oocytes (egg cells) are physically tagged with microscopic silicon bar code labels. They expect to try it out on human embryos and oocytes soon."

69 comments

  1. Is this where... by Dexter+Herbivore · · Score: 2, Funny

    I put on my tinfoil hat and proclaim that the insane conspiracy fantasies of right wing fundamentalist nutters are coming true? On second thoughts, I may need to be dosed up with a little more religion.... or LSD.

    1. Re:Is this where... by TheHonch · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, this is where you say "I, for one, welcome our bar-coded overlords"

    2. Re:Is this where... by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Informative

      A tinfoil hat won't save you from the embryo bar code! The fact that you're not an embryo and have no zona pellucida will. Read the very short article: these are tagged onto the outside of the embryo. The embryo hatches out of it prior to attaching to the uterine wall, the tag is lost at that point. This is not like imprinting organisms from conception to adulthood, despite the tone of the summary.

    3. Re:Is this where... by ZDRuX · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How about you provide examples of where discoveries such as this have NOT been used to document and catalog people?

      Is it really THAT FAR FETCHED to see hospitals and organizations advertising this in the future as a way to combat terrorism, or a way to prevent your child from being kidnapped, or to find your lost pets, or to ensure your baby isn't misplaced after birth, or a million other reasons I can think of?

      How about a perfect way to take DNA from crime-scenes and having a few high-profile cases solved thanks to this DNA barcode, which then opens up excuses for everyone to be barcoded at birth, is it REALLY that hard to see this?

      If I told you 50 years ago that you wouldn't be able to take a bottle of water on an airplane with you, you'd call be a conspiracy theorist, if I told you 50 years ago that protests would be shut down using sound cannons, if I told you 50 years ago that police will take blood samples from you at random spot checks, you'd call me a conspiracy theorist.. and yet - today this all seems pretty normal to you.

      Do you not see the irony in this? Not even one little bit?

      --
      The magical number is: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    4. Re:Is this where... by Danieljury3 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      DNA Barcode... Is DNA not unique to individuals? Why not just take a sample of everyone's DNA at birth instead of barcoding it or are there too many people claiming in court "It wasn't me. It was my evil twin" and getting away with it

    5. Re:Is this where... by lordmetroid · · Score: 1

      I for one will resist this commercialization, I do not want to walk into the super market and buy me a handful of bar-coded embryos.

    6. Re:Is this where... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      mod parent up.. his 50 years ago statement is dead on and is more true than the 'strict deniers' want to admit. strict deniers are no better than the wackjob conspiracy nuts over there on the other pole and are often no different than authority apologizers. the difference between the two is that the strict deniers are taken seriously by most people.

    7. Re:Is this where... by willo1945 · · Score: 1

      I first read about this on 'supaswap-news.com' it reminded me of 1950's sci-fi or old B Movies Like the tinfoil hat comment Ha!!!

    8. Re:Is this where... by noidentity · · Score: 1

      Do you not see the irony in this? Not even one little bit?

      I don't see an irony in what you described, no. An example of irony would be the conspiracy theorist's wife being an employee of a company behind some of this creeping fascism, or one of the people behind this kind of thing being a victim of its misuse.

    9. Re:Is this where... by GrumblyStuff · · Score: 1

      Future-proofing against clones.

    10. Re:Is this where... by Kilrah_il · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      You mean you need to implement a barcode at the embryo stage in order to have a unique identifier to each member of society? Aren't fingerprints, ear lobes, facial features and even the DNA itself unique enough?
      I won't go into the whole tin foil hat argument, but in order for your predictions to succeed, you don't need this new high tech.

      BTW, how many predictions from 50 years ago did not pan out? Oh, and while on the subject: Did anyone give out a prediction about the scenarios you pointed out 50 years ago? I mean, you take something that happens now and then use a hypothetical prediction from 50 years ago to prove your point. That doesn't make sense.
      Give me real predictions that panned out, and we have something to talk about. And even then I bet that for every prediction, we can find a hundred others that turned out to be nothing more than kiddie horror stories.

      Shame on me, I did go into the tin foil hat argument. Sorry, folks.

      --
      Whenever in an argument, remember this.
    11. Re:Is this where... by Kilrah_il · · Score: 1

      Why such a long reply? He asked if you saw the irony, just say "No". :)

      --
      Whenever in an argument, remember this.
    12. Re:Is this where... by gringer · · Score: 1

      This is not like imprinting organisms from conception to adulthood, despite the tone of the summary.

      No, for that you need to shoot the embryos with tiny gold pellets loaded with a very specific DNA sequence — 40-50 bp should do it. That's a much more advanced technology that we should have in about, er, -10 years.

      --
      Ask me about repetitive DNA
    13. Re:Is this where... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 1

      Given that organisms already have DNA by which they can be identified and without which they are going to find essentially all critical life functions to be very difficult indeed, the idea of using some fancy, novel, and removable tag would be pretty ridiculous.

      It's an interesting bit of research, and will probably save the highly specialized "people trying to grow a bunch of early-stage embryos without getting them mixed up, for assorted research purposes" a considerable amount of time and trouble; but its utility for tinfoil hat stuff seems minimal. Humans are already loaded with GUIDs, some of which they shed involuntarily and essentially continuously, so you don't really need to go to extra effort there...

    14. Re:Is this where... by Verunks · · Score: 2, Informative

      DNA Barcode... Is DNA not unique to individuals? Why not just take a sample of everyone's DNA at birth instead of barcoding it or are there too many people claiming in court "It wasn't me. It was my evil twin" and getting away with it

      not really, for example twins have the same DNA

    15. Re:Is this where... by Aryden · · Score: 1

      no. DNA has a percentage of accuracy, so you could in theory convict someone based on DNA evidence due to their dna being too similar to the actual criminal's. This methodology would remove that and make it exact.

      Fingerprints, facial features, earlobes etc can all be altered. Just look at most of your actors and actresses, or just watch an episode of any of the "real housewives of "

    16. Re:Is this where... by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 2, Informative

      not really, for example twins have the same DNA

      Don't even identical twins both have single bit errors that the other doesn't?

    17. Re:Is this where... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Revelation 13 KJV

      1: And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2: And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3: And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4: And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5: And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6: And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

      7: And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8: And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9: If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10: He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

      11: And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12: And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13: And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14: And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15: And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16: And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18: Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

      Informative or flamebait? Who knows really, but I'm sure those who believe the above is prophecy will just love the news that we are researching how to barcode human embryos. Fuck that, this is a sick technology that only a despotic totalitarian fuckwit would enjoy humanity possess. I find this repulsive that anyone would consider such a dehumanization as to barcode us all. Tyrrany only stops when it meets resistance. We should oppose this even if we think the religious types are nutters, this is an insult to human dignity.

    18. Re:Is this where... by Legion303 · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Or "In Soviet Russia, code bars YOU!"

    19. Re:Is this where... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not any more than the single bit errors occurring between the cells in an individual.

      Remember, in order to get identical twins,
      1. A sperm and an egg form an embryo
      2. The embryo grows from one cell to something between two and eight cells
      3. The embryo is split into two embryos with fewer cells
      4. The two embryos grow separately into two fetuses

      Since it only takes 2-8 cell divisions before the twins are split apart, but it takes 10^n more cell divisions to create a full human being, the single bit errors between two identical twins pale in comparison to the single bit errors between the cells in a single individual.

    20. Re:Is this where... by JockTroll · · Score: 1

      Hokey genetics and ancient barcodes are no match for a good Pfläger-Katsumata series-D blaster at your side.

      --
      Geeks are so full of shit that "beating the crap out of them" takes a whole new meaning.
    21. Re:Is this where... by tsm_sf · · Score: 1

      And behold, I found a really pretty red mushroom that I didst eat on an empty stomach.

      --
      Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
    22. Re:Is this where... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes... there's just one question: Why?

    23. Re:Is this where... by konohitowa · · Score: 1

      Slashdot is so damned funny. The guy you responded to was 'insightful' while discussing the topic at hand. Your response discussing the same topic was 'offtopic'.

      I really want an "Agree/Disagree" button next to the moderation field with some filtering goodies that allow me to +/- based upon my assessments. As it stands, I view +6 Troll/Flamebait/Offtopic, -3 Insightful, and +2 Informative, but that means I sometimes miss out on the 1 or 2 comments per day that truly were insightful, will still getting to learn all about about Rob Malda's fecal obsessions. Although, turdman seems to have backed off of those posts recently.

      I also want a way to permanently nuke, with extreme prejudice, anything that kdawson has touched. ;)

    24. Re:Is this where... by uninformedLuddite · · Score: 1

      That is why I never laugh at the conspiracy theorists that 'smart' people tend to mock as insane. There are an awful lot of things that they talked about decades ago that had them labeled nutters and that we accept as a normal part of life

      --
      The new right fascists are bilingual. They speak English and Bullshit.
    25. Re:Is this where... by interkin3tic · · Score: 1

      That won't imprint it for life either. You can get DNA into the embryo, no problem, but without convincing the cell it's something the cell needs to replicate, that DNA won't get copied with the cell's normal DNA and will be dilluted out in a few divisions.

      Getting DNA inserted into the genome is possible in mice and numerous other organisms, though I don't think anyone has done it in humans. Getting it inserted into the genome in -every- cell of a human body would be much more difficult. Getting it to reliably get implanted into every embryo, and making sure it wasn't in the middle of an important gene? I wouldn't worry about that.

    26. Re:Is this where... by vegiVamp · · Score: 1

      I agree wholeheartedly. It's so much better if you put in the effort and make them yourself. A bit like pies, really.

      --
      What a depressingly stupid machine.
    27. Re:Is this where... by murfguy · · Score: 1

      Funny in a sad way. I just finished a term project on the subject of RFID and smart card technology uses in th control over people. It is quite sad that this the direction the world governments are heading in. A world uprising is needed to stop such a thing, it is apparent that politics won't stop it and man's desire to be God. Religiosity is not intended.

    28. Re:Is this where... by Kilrah_il · · Score: 1

      Amen!
      Thanks, mate.

      --
      Whenever in an argument, remember this.
  2. The End Times and Christian eschatology by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Not that I believe in that kind of hokum, but could we please not do science that encourages people like Jack van Impe and his hot, hot wife Rexella? They believe that everyone will be tagged with a scannable code. That it will be the currency just before and during the beginning of the end times. They think that only those who resist it will be saved from God's judgment.

    Everytime you put a barcode on a living thing, you stir up that pot of crazy.

    This Thanksgiving, let's take a moment to think about all the great stuff science has given us. And try not to forget that just because science is great, it doesn't mean that the Christian retards have any less power.

    1. Re:The End Times and Christian eschatology by interkin3tic · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Everytime you put a barcode on a living thing, you stir up that pot of crazy.

      The summary really should have pointed out that THE TAGS DON'T STAY ON. Hopefully we can nip this in the bud.

      And try not to forget that just because science is great, it doesn't mean that the Christian retards have any less power.

      What power in this context? The power to foam at the mouth about this fairly boring bit of research from Spain? The ability to pass laws stipulating that human embryos should not be marked with barcodes?

      Don't get me wrong, any power is more power than those nuts -should- have, and this could get them new recruits which would also be bad, but this is not a serious issue otherwise.

    2. Re:The End Times and Christian eschatology by AmberBlackCat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Once again, it's worth noting that no Christians are attacking atheists here. There's just you attacking them.

    3. Re:The End Times and Christian eschatology by Ginger+Unicorn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The summary really should have pointed out that THE TAGS DON'T STAY ON. Hopefully we can nip this in the bud.

      That's not how the psychology of confirmation bias works. Anyone looking for confirmation of their beliefs about a barcode apocalypse will simply ignore that part of the story. I'm sure these Van Impe characters would quite happily spread the story that embryos are being barcoded to their flock, selectively quote mining the relevant news stories.

      --
      (1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
    4. Re:The End Times and Christian eschatology by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes, the tags are only there to help identify the egg so that mix-ups don't happen when fertilising them. There was a case a few years ago in the UK where two couple's eggs got mixed up resulting in each mother having the child of the other's partner.

      I don't know if sperm can be tagged in the same way but at least this would reduce the chances of a mistake by 50%.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:The End Times and Christian eschatology by deetoy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The odd thing I see with the arguements above is the failure to realize some caution in the application of science is a good thing.

      If the 'religious nuts' provide some caution to the scientific community and encourage the public to debate how science is implemented then that has a net positive result. Worth noting here that not all things claiming to be in the religious name actually are.

      'declared biologically innocuous in an earlier study', yeah, we were told Thalidomide was a great drug .....

      It is an interesting way to improve the tracking of embryos - the potential effects on development post embryo will need to be tested further before they can progress to human embryos. Further debate and research will be needed to identify if this is the only or desirable way to achieve the desired result.

      The relevant bible clause here is worth a read - then ask yourself if forecasting this as a bad thing for mankind 2000 years ago makes Nostradamus look like an amateur. I can't help but wonder what Jesus would have said about gene patents.

      “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”
      Albert Einstein

  3. Dibs! by martin-boundary · · Score: 1

    I call dibs on 666.666-666-666 for my baby!

    1. Re:Dibs! by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 3, Funny

      Someone I knew during my university days in scenic New Jersey painted "666" on his forehead, and walked into the local 24-hour Wawa market (it's like a Kwik-E-Mart) at the middle of the night. Some Schlaumeyer grabbed two loaves of French bread (baguettes), and put them in a cross shape. Then he yelled, "Back! Back!"

      At least one person in the store got the joke.

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    2. Re:Dibs! by Vernes · · Score: 3, Funny

      Is the barcode alphanumeric? In that case I claim: "Robert`); DROP TABLE Students;--"

  4. Not that new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Salmon otoliths were barcoded in the early 80's (I think) to distinguish between different hatcheries. Coding was achieved by varying the water temperature during development, thus affecting the rate of growth, and hence colour of the bone in bands. The code stayed with the fish for life.

    1. Re:Not that new by Abcd1234 · · Score: 1

      Salmon otoliths were barcoded in the early 80's (I think) to distinguish between different hatcheries. Coding was achieved by varying the water temperature during development, thus affecting the rate of growth, and hence colour of the bone in bands. The code stayed with the fish for life.

      Yeah, that's totally the same thing as actually tagging cells with microscopic pieces of silicon.

      Not that new... bullshit.

  5. my cell bar code is 666 by kawabago · · Score: 1

    I just know it.

  6. Sweet! by commodoresloat · · Score: 2, Funny

    Finally, a use for my :cue:cat!!!!

    1. Re:Sweet! by tqft · · Score: 1

      I use my cuecat regularly - scanning barcoded isbns into alexandria so it can go away and look up all the details for me

      --
      The Singularity is closer than you think
      Quant
    2. Re:Sweet! by antdude · · Score: 1

      Dang it and I just tossed mine out (from Wired Magazine) a couple years ago. :(

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  7. It's The Evolution, ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...baby!

  8. Easier for adoption agencies too by michelcolman · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just take the baby off the shelf, scan the bar code, enter your credit card, and all the paperwork takes care of itself!

    1. Re:Easier for adoption agencies too by azalin · · Score: 1

      The Simpsons already did that.

    2. Re:Easier for adoption agencies too by michelcolman · · Score: 1

      Of course, they've always been way ahead of their time :-)

    3. Re:Easier for adoption agencies too by turkeyfish · · Score: 1

      Thats just part of Ruppert Murdoch's scheme to push this stuff on an unsuspecting public who buys into this as "normal". His idea is to have everyone tagged so that whenever they walk within 20 ft of a TV, they will be immediately be exposed to Fox News. How else could you explain his massive investment portfolio into bar coding and radio tag technology?

  9. But will it blend? by kronnek · · Score: 0

    All nice and everything... Unless it can be scanned at the supermarket and I can use my club card to get a discount, it's useless.

  10. Mod parent up by michelcolman · · Score: 3, Informative

    And here's a link:

    http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/barcoding-wild-salmon

  11. shit... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now they are all going to grow into super intelligent, super strong and agile perfect assassins and will need to be given a number instead of a name.

  12. Blade Runner on iPlayer by Goffee71 · · Score: 1

    Caught it on BBC's iPlayer (UK-only suckers) a couple of weeks ago, still amazing after all these years... http://goffee-freelance.blogspot.com/2010/11/films-for-free-just-found-blade-runner.html

    --
    If he's the Walrus then can I be a penguin please?
  13. dna hashtags? by idigitallDotCom · · Score: 1

    I don't know if that's the right term, but surely a dna "hashtag" is a more effective than sticking a silicon label on to the embryo sack? Or can't one get DNA sequences (unique?) from an embryo?

    --
    blog.idigitall.com
  14. Switched babies by KiloByte · · Score: 1

    Actually, a non-negligible amount of babies get mistakenly switched around in hospitals. This is the reason why many hospitals nowadays (at least in Poland) give newborns bracelets with the name of their parent -- but there are claims that they still manage to get it wrong quite often.

    Less seriously: I was born a stupid, ugly but work-loving baby, yet an evil midwife switched me in the crib.

    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
  15. *Beep* by Haedrian · · Score: 1

    This is all a conspiracy - first step towards an Embryo supermarket.

    "*Beep* That'll be 9.95 sir, cash or credit?"

  16. human barcodes prior art by viralMeme · · Score: 1

    "Max is a genetically engineered human, created by Manticore .. All the kids in Manticore had a number inserted into there genetic patterns that shows up as a barcode on the back of the neck" link

  17. surely you mean by sigxcpu · · Score: 0, Redundant

    "I, for one, welcome our new scientist overlords"
    oh, wait

    --
    As of Postgres v6.2, time travel is no longer supported.
    1. Re:surely you mean by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

      Huh? Scientists usually hold very little political power, they rarely hold office, when they do, they're legislators outnumbered by peers that are lawyers. It's the religious extremists or extreme nationalists that are dangerous because it's that kind of person that's actually in an executive office and tends to use whatever they have in their power.

  18. It won't be copied during cell reproduction so... by Viol8 · · Score: 1

    ... surely even better would be to insert the barcode as a section of DNA directly into the genome?

    Perhaps we're not far from that either.

  19. ID is OK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Having worked in the technical IT side of IVF for years I can tell you that we already bar code embryos and sperm. We also write the patients name on the pot. But there are still mix ups and very occasionally the wrong embryo is implanted. The more checks on who owns what the better.

    You have to remeber that that embryos, eggs and sperm are stored at -190'C, you have to wear goggles, thick gloves and there is vapour everywhere and frost on everything. It's hard to read labels. (we use rfid tags)

    Interestingly when you take a pot of sperm out of the dewar and it goes from -190 to +25'c sometimes they explode showering you with frozen shards.

  20. Do any of the tags... by EnsilZah · · Score: 1

    Do any of the tags contain the string 'whatcouldpossiblygowrong' on them?

  21. This won't work in real life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The risks involved in taking care of a day 3 to day 7 embro are great. Anytime you muck with it, you introduce risk. People going through retrieval / implant will not tolerate this added risk.

    Keeping track of embro's is not a problem if proper procedures are followed.

    This provides very little benefit for such a high risk activity. Fail.

  22. Hey scientists? by paxcoder · · Score: 1

    They expect to try it out on human embryos and oocytes soon

    Would you kindly go fuck yourselves?

  23. Blade Runner? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Reminds me of the scene in the street where Decker is getting the snake scales checked, and the street vendor shows the scanning microscope screen showing the ID codes.

  24. Pah. by xSander · · Score: 1

    Why not create embryos without any junk DNA and add special DNA in them so that unremovable barcodes appear on their necks?