DNA safeguards your home and valuables

High-tech strands of synthetic DNA, which glow bright blue under ultraviolet light, are being used to link criminals to crime scenes.

Unique sequences of synthesised DNA, picked up by contact or sprayed as a mist during a crime, can confirm a suspect’s presence at the scene days or weeks later.

The DNA-laced mist resists washing and clings to clothes, and the chemical traces can leave a trail for police as a suspect contaminates a getaway car or their home.

In some cases, the technology can release its telltale spray when an alarm is triggered that wirelessly alerts police.

Last year Selectamark offered the liquid version of the technology to 1000 homes, schools and businesses in New Zealand.

That form of synthetic DNA is swabbed onto the surface of belongings. The company says that it is “virtually impossible to remove every trace” of their product from items it is applied to.

They claim that all it takes is “a tiny molecule” of the product to identify an item’s owner.

As well as the usual range of home electronics, the company recommends that antiques and paintings along with power tools, lawnmowers and other outdoor equipment be treated.

Warning lables are supplied to identify treated items as well as window stickers as a deterrent to thieves. You even receive a UV light to confirm successful application of the material.

The adhesive solution also contains microdots with the company’s phone number and a unique customer id.

Selectamark maintains a database allowing recovered items to be returned to their rightful owner.

After eight months of the NZ trial, police in Manukau, south of Auckland, announced burglaries in the test area had declined by 61 per cent.

A police spokeswoman, Ana-Mari Gates-Bowey, said few, if any, cases had gone to court, and it was probably publicity about the test that had deterred crimes.

Selectamark’s managing director, Andrew Knights, was in Sydney and Brisbane last week hoping to organise similar tests in Australia for early next year.

He said forensic marking technology in Britain had resulted in ”hundreds of convictions”.

The technology has so far received little attention in Australia, but the Bank of New Zealand has tested a DNA-infused aerosol made by Selectamark, a British company, and will install the security devices in all of its branches by the end of October.

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