DNA Spray

A business district in Amsterdam has begun using “DNA spray,” an adhesive mist triggered by store clerks, motion detectors, or by remote camera surveillance operators during a robbery or holdup. Chemical markers injected into the mist identify the precise time and location of the incident.

“The procedure is simple: during a holdup a nebula of invisible liquid with a synthetic DNA code is spread in the space. the liquid attaches itself to the clothes and skin of the perpetrator and cannot simply be washed off. DNA-spray is practically invisible to the human eye, but lights up under UV-light. Suspects with traces of DNA-spray are easily traceable to the scene of the crime for the police.”

The above-linked Dutch blogger worries that DNA spray could be used by governments to identify the attendees at political protests.