DNA-Inspired Art: Wear Your Genes or Paint with Blood

DNA scienceBy tlewis February 4, 2013

We here at DNA Diagnostics Center know that DNA is beautiful. Though, sometimes it’s easy to get wrapped up in the scientific potential of DNA. Less often do we take the time to appreciate its visual beauty, which is sad because as you will see, DNA-inspired art can be stunning. Wear your DNA Over at…

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Cell Line Authentication: Ensuring The Validity of Research

Cell line authentication, DNA STR ProfilingBy tlewis January 23, 2013

It has been a year since the ATCC Standards Development Organization (ATCC-SDO) released the consensus standard (ANS-0002) for authentication of human cell lines. Since then, a growing list of organizations and journals have strongly recommended adding cell line authentication as a requirement for funding and/or publication of research findings, and for good reason. Studies have…

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Human DNA Finds its Way Into Gelatin. How did we miss this story?

DNA scienceBy tlewis January 17, 2013

Back in 2011, The Telegraph reported on advances in technology that would potentially allow 300,000 tons of animal-based gelatin currently produced annually (for marshmallows, candies, donut filling, and countless other face-stuffables) to be offset with gelatin derived from human DNA. A quick Google search on the topic returns a lengthy list of articles and blog…

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King Louis XVI’s DNA Found on Decorative Squash

DNA scienceBy tlewis January 9, 2013

Legend has it that when France’s King Louis XVI was killed via guillotine some 200 years ago during the French Revolution, someone used a handkerchief to soak up the king’s blood, then stored the handkerchief in a gourd. DNA has confirmed this to be true, thanks to efforts by paleogenomic researchers, as published in the…

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Was Lisa Gherardini the Mona Lisa? Researchers Hope to Find Answers in DNA

DNA Test for AncestryBy tlewis January 3, 2013

In the world of art, few paintings have aroused more interest and speculation than the Mona Lisa. Created between 1503 and 1506 by Leonardo da Vinci, art historians widely believe it to be the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, commissioned by her husband Francesco del Giocondo. There are many alternative views on the identity of the…

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Discovery of “Extinct” Pygmy Right Whale May Help Trace the Lineage of Modern Whales

DNA science, GeneticsBy tlewis December 26, 2012

In the wake of a recent attempt to prove the genetic lineage of Bigfoot using DNA, the news of another cryptozoological discovery of course has our attention. The recent discovery of a pygmy right whale originally thought to be extinct may be the key to tracing the lineage of modern whales. The pygmy right whale,…

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What Does DNA Look Like? The First Ever Direct Photograph of DNA

DNA scienceBy tlewis December 12, 2012

A team of Italian scientists have taken a snapshot of a single DNA molecule for the first time using the electron microscope. This technological breakthrough comes after years of depending on X-ray diffraction to provide indirect, albeit useful, information on the structure of DNA. In 1952, the groundbreaking X-ray diffraction image of DNA, dubbed Photo…

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Paternity Test Confirms Military Dad Killed in Afghanistan

DNA STR Profiling, DNA test, Forensic DNA Testing, Paternity TestBy tlewis November 28, 2012

A paternity test has proven that a UK soldier, Pvt. Daniel Wade, was the father of a baby born in June, giving her access to his death benefits. Emma Hickman, the baby’s mother, was denied the right to put the father’s name in birth certificate because they were not married at the time the baby…

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Could Cloud Atlas Revitalize Interest in Human Cloning and Gene Modification?

GeneticsBy tlewis November 23, 2012

“The embryos I was looking at had been designed to labor in uranium tunnels under the Yellow Sea. Their saucerlike eyes were genomed for darkness. In fact, they go insane if xposed to brite unfiltered daylite.” –pg 324, Cloud Atlas* Genetically modified clones, or “fabricants” are featured prominently in Cloud Atlas, a film adapted from…

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Celebrity Paternity Testing: How DDC Handles Client Confidentiality

celebrity paternity test, DNA test, Paternity TestBy tlewis November 14, 2012

The question of paternity is one that has been asked throughout the ages. Most paternity situations are private, but modern media has afforded the public a view of paternity situations occurring in the lives of the rich and famous. These days, you can expect to know what’s in a famous celebrity’s purse, where they went…

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