DNA Tagging Is The New Buzz
Barcodes are so yesterday!
“We designed the first portable, end-to-end molecular tagging system that enables rapid, on-demand encoding and decoding at scale, and which is more accessible than existing molecular tagging methods.” Kathryn Doroschak
One can say the world is in a system where everything has an ID. Be it the face recognition, barcodes, QR codes, blood types or simply physical characteristics, everything is identifiable.
Despite being so omnipresent, these identification technologies have their own drawbacks. One such example can be those scannable barcodes which could be bulky, could easily damage, made of non-biodegradable materials or impractical when they are in large numbers.
What if there is a very smart way to identify things so accurately within seconds and without harming the environment, like DNA? Well, the odds are good thanks to recent advancements in DNA sequencing techniques and advanced computer technologies.
Researchers from the University of Washington and Microsoft have come up with a genius alternative to conventional tagging systems with the use of DNA. The new molecular tagging method “Porcupine” is said to be lighter…
