New Gun Shoots “DNA” Bullets

A company called SelectaDNA has created a special kind of paintball gun that shoots uniquely-coded DNA pellets. It’s being billed as a highly effective tool against rioters and other disturbers of the peace.

SelectaDNA’s High Velocity “DNA” Tagging System:
http://bit.ly/VMuYNn

The gun comes in pistol and rifle models and shoots a uniquely-coded DNA pellet that marks the target so that they can be apprehended at a less confrontational time for officers. According to the company: “On contact with the target the uniquely-coded SelectaDNA solution leaves a synthetic DNA trace mark that will enable the relevant authorities to confirm or eliminate that person from their involvement in a particular situation and could ultimately lead to arrest and prosecution.”

Now, I’ll get to whether this is a good idea in a minute. See, I thought this DNA marking technology was a brand new thing, but according to the company a version of this DNA marking is currently used by ¾ of the UK’s police force to mark people’s valuables. For under $200 the police will come to your house, spread the specially coded “glue” that dries completely clear in just minutes onto the valuables you want marked. Then they slap a sticker on your window to alert potential burglars that the contents of your home or vehicle are protected by SelectaDNA.

According to the company, when potential burglars see a SelectaDNA sign or sticker on property, they are 85% less likely to burglarize it. While that number may be a bit overstated, there’s no doubt that this stuff has a very real, practical use. If stolen property marked by this stuff gets recovered, the police can identify the owner within 3 days.

Even corporations like McDonalds have begun using a version of SelectaDNA that allows employees to spray robbers with the same stuff that’s in the pellets as they leave the store, marking them for identification and physically tying them to the crime scene once they’re apprehended by law enforcement.

However, marking a robber – or property that could be stolen by a burglar – is one thing, shooting somebody in a crowd of “rioters” is a whole different thing and presents a few problems like:

1) what if the cops miss and hit somebody just standing around, apprehend them later and charge them with a crime?

2) there is a real possibility that less upstanding countries could use the guns to shoot and mark members of a crowd of protesters for future retribution.

So, while this technology is mind blowing and could do a lot of good, just like drones in American skies, I’m far from convinced the positives outweigh the negatives. I’m also afraid that, just like drones, police forces are going to invest in the newest technology and start using it before the public has had the proper debate about its implementation, and before the courts have decided how to deal with it.

http://www.selectadna.co.uk/selectadn…

Subscribe to The Daily Conversation
http://bit.ly/WZnLnd
Join the conversation on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/thedailyconve…
Add TDC to your circles on Google+
https://plus.google.com/1001349258045…
Follow The Daily Conversation on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/thedailyconvo