CNN recently had a news article about Genetic Phenotyping. Now back in the day I used to teach science, so I was instantly excited about this new technology. You see I remembered that phenotype meant what was expressed by genes, meaning what the gene causes you to look like or what it ended up as in your body, influenced by the environment. So that means this phenotyping could tell what a person should look like! Wow!
So basically this is what genetic phenotyping is: scientists can use DNA to give a guess on what the person looks like! The big thing is that DNA does not show age, so the scientists do their best with age-progression software. But they can tell the police if the suspect is male or female, what color their hair is, eyes, etc... Now the person they interviewed from the company said they do not look at medical conditions, but that is something they could find out rather easily from DNA. For example, genetic phenotyping should allow scientists to tell if someone is lactose intolerant, have sickle-cell anemia, or other genetic-based conditions.
The company doing this technique is called Parabon. The link below is to the company's website and shows examples of predicted look based on their DNA phenotyping and the actual look of the person: Parabon
Pretty freaky stuff!
EDIT: Forgot to mention they can also match unknown DNA to family members who have DNA on file. So if someone in your family does an Ancestry.com kit or something similar and you commit a crime, they will be able to track you down through your relations.
Writing: No real writing updates for today. I have been writing, but all is in work. I've completed nothing recently, just editing and working on tightening up a few different stories. I did edit a short story for a friend, a good little fantasy piece. Had a nice Hunger Games feel to it. Hope she takes my edits to heart and continues on.
Picture for today: Iron Vader. The ultimate mash-up...
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