Forensic markersUsing DNA to track down criminals and fight counterfeiting
Applied DNA Sciences, based in Stony Brook, New York, works with banks, governments, and businesses across the globe to detect and prevent fraud in areas that range from textile fibers, casino chips, and cash; Applied DNA has worked with authorities in the United Kingdom to insert DNA markers in currency to help track down money stolen from bank heists and other robberies; the company has helped solve thirty-five cases; the company also embeds plant DNA in casino chips to fight fraud and counterfeiters by making unique markers that are impossible to duplicate; its technology can also be used in virtually anything to fight counterfeiters or authenticate products
Researchers at Applied DNA Sciences are helping law enforcement agencies around the world catch criminals with their sophisticated DNA marking technology.
Applied DNA, based in Stony Brook, New York, works with banks, governments, and businesses across the globe to prevent fraud and authenticate products in every sector including fibers, casino chips, and cash.
According to Gordon Platt, a spokesman for Applied DNA, the company’s technology “can really be used to mark or authenticate anything.”
He says, “It’s a neutral substance meaning that it doesn’t interact with anything in the manufacturing process. So manufacturers can use it to mark virtually any product.”
Applied DNA has been working with authorities in the United Kingdom to insert DNA markers in currency to help track down money stolen from bank heists and other robberies.
As of September 2010, the company has helped solve thirty-five cases for police forces across the United Kingdom which led to thirteen convictions.
Applied DNA uses a special DNA infused ink that drenches stolen cash and everything around it with traceable signatures.
Platt explains that “SigNatureDNA is used in the ink placed in the dye packs in currency sacks or containers. When the dye packs explode the DNA (derived from plants) marks the currency, the perpetrators and anything else around. There are ways to wash off the dye, but you can’t wash off the DNA.”
“The DNA on the evidence can then be matched to the DNA on record that is registered with the source of the money. Since it is DNA or forensic evidence it is admissible in most courts,” Platt says.
According to Richard Dietl, chairman of Beau Dietl & Associates, a security firm in New York, “DNA is the only true forensic marker that can help to put criminals away for a long time.”
He said DNA markers are “a smarter way of deterring cash crimes.”
Applied DNA CEO James Hayward agrees with this statement adding that his company’s customers have reported a nearly 50 percent reduction in losses after deploying Applied DNA’s tracking technology.
“The arsenal of forensic DNA capabilities that are being used on a daily basis should send a very strong message to criminals,” said Tony Benson, risk director for Loomis UK.
In the United Kingdom, this technology has proven particularly effective as guards transporting cash do not carry weapons and have become the target of many armed robberies.
In 2009, £17.1 million British pounds, roughly $27.6 dollars, were stolen in more than 1,000 robberies. These robberies in the United Kingdom accounted for more than 75 percent of the world’s cash robberies.
Applied DNA has also been working closely with companies in Sweden to implement its DNA marking technology after a bold heist shocked authorities last year.
Thieves used a helicopter to lower themselves on to the roof of a cash depot before blowing their way in and making off with large quantities of cash. As a result, the Swedish government and companies are currently re-evaluating how they secure cash and other valuables.
Applied DNA is also working with casinos to prevent forged chips. Last year, the company began embedding plant DNA in casino chips to fight fraud and counterfeiters by making unique markers that are impossible to duplicate.
Platt says that the “DNA which is naturally occurring in plants can be extracted and then recombined to create a unique code. This rearranged molecule can then be added to plastic, paint, a paper tag or more, to create a marker that cannot be copied.”
In July 2010 a man in Kansas was arrested for using more than $100,000 in fake chips and more casinos have been adopting high-tech fraud-proof chips to prevent such instances from occurring.
To support its anti-counterfeiting efforts around the world, Applied DNA opened a DNA textile authentication laboratory in the United Kingdom in January.
The lab, opened in conjunction with the Textile Centre of Excellence (TCE), will track plant DNA in fibers. Using its FiberTyping technology, Applied DNA will help retailers, yarn manufacturers, and fiber growers to ensure that the textiles are authentic and conform to textile labeling regulations.
High-end designer labels and wineries are also using the technology to fight against counterfeit productions.
