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DNA-Tagging Used To Nab Counterfeit Olympic Goods 128

Posted by timothy from the and-what's-the-easiest-way-to-get-DNA dept.
Logic Bomb writes: "The San Francisco Chronicle is running a story about the way Olympic officials are fighting counterfeit 'official' Olympic merchandise. Invisible ink containing DNA strands from an unnamed Australian athlete is used to write on almost everything sold -- that's around 50 million items. A team of 'logocops' then travels around Australia, using scanners to check merchandise at random. Over 120,000 items have already been identified as counterfeit and seized. The story has more details." Sounds like SF, but then ... flying cars aside, plenty of humans now have radio phones and organs they weren't born with. There are some other interesting applications named toward the end of the article, too.
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DNA-Tagging Used To Nab Counterfit Olympic Goods More

DNA-Tagging Used To Nab Counterfit Olympic Goods

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  • Hope they don't (Score:4)

    by AbbyNormal ( 216235 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2000 @02:15AM (#785902) Homepage
    sell blue dresses. Don't want to know what kinda DNA is on them!

  • DNA Tagging... (Score:5)

    by Bob McCown ( 8411 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2000 @02:17AM (#785903)
    I came real close to rolling my car the other day, and DNA tagged my underwear....
  • I spose that's one way to spread your seed.
  • Could this method of tagging things with DNA be usd for a whole bunch of other purposes to uniquely identify items? However, I dont think this would work, if something were sufficiently profitable, it would be worth the while of some underworld cartel to get the equipment needed to extract the DNA tag from an original and replicate it and tag their own couterfeit items in the same way.
  • But I coulda sworn the Olympic logo had 6 rings!

  • What is the point of authenticity in Olympic games goods? Unless you actually win a medal, the rest is just junk that will not survive the decade.

    Demonstration: I still have a MOCKBA Olympic bag with Michka the cute little bear of the 80's Olympics on it. It must be in a cellar someplace. Bought it when supermarkets where overpacked of Olympic Addidas junk and every kid at school had one.

    Who the *%$£ will want that??? Lot of people cause it has value, you say?

    Well about that then:

    Will trade for REAL Modigliani or J. Bosch painting.
  • With 50 million products to mark, what portion of that athlete's body went into ink, and how much was left to run the competitions?

    I'd almost believe it if I heard the claim that the athlete lost a whole leg to the process...

  • Let's hope they don't sell too much merchandise - they would run out of athletes. Come on, we need three more pints of blood, the T-shirts are selling like mad today :)
    How to make a sig
    without having an idea
  • As an Atlanta resident, I bought several shirts back in '96. The problem is that everytime you wear them, folks tend to realize that you don't shop for clothes very often...

  • plenty of humans now have radio phones and organs they weren't born with

    Heck, I even have clothes I wasn't born with...

  • Is this real? If so, what sort of scanner do they have that can test for a particular piece of DNA is a small, portable unit (which is certainly what they're implying)? Or do they just confiscate a sample, and analyse it in a lab at a later date?

  • Are we really this greedy? (Score:4)

    by DBLO_P ( 199930 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2000 @02:33AM (#785913)
    Have we become such a greedy people that we must make sure that no one else can make money from any idea that someone or some group claims to be theirs. The Olympics have been around for ever, yet we let someone own the name, and make other people pay to say this is official. We are in such a need for money that we must tag our merchandise with DNA to insure that no one else sells it. Oh and by the way, you can duplicate DNA without having to go back and get more samples from the donor, but hey what do I know.

  • Eeeew (Score:1)

    by mholve ( 1101 )
    Sounds like that Australian dude's been sneezing all over the goods... ;>

    More DNA layin' around than in the West Wing.

  • Wait till the MPAA hears about this!!! (Score:5)

    by handorf ( 29768 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2000 @02:38AM (#785915)
    Only the one person who buys a DVD will be able to watch it!

    "Please supply a blood sample to start playback"
  • I forsee a tough road ahead for the sheep, as DNA tagging of the actual animal a piece of clothing comes from becomes prominent:

    "Is that casmir sweater REALLY casmir? Ewe betcha!" :-)

  • You'd think a company like this would have a site on the web, but I can't find one. According to Lycos and Google there's three companies with names like DNA technologies without such a product. It's a cool idea. But considering that there's plenty of ways one could securely tag an item, and the weakest link is the guy using the pen, I don't buy it. What's their process? They don't actually have a guy marking everything, I'm sure, but there's no mention in the article about how the tagging is done on the legit merchandise.

  • olympics (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 12, 2000 @02:40AM (#785918)
    Remember when the olympics was about competing atheletes? Now it seems to be a New World Order Olympics, with gagged atheletes, super-corporate sponsorships, DNA tagging of merchandise, random searches and seizures of Australian citizens, dispatching of the secret police to nearby countries, etc.

  • Lucky athlete! (Score:5)

    by GlobalEcho ( 26240 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2000 @02:41AM (#785919)
    Next time he or she commits a crime, there'll be no worries about the DNA evidence! I can just see it now...

    "Can you explain how your unique DNA got onto this crowbar?"

    "Well, not exactly, sir, but you can see it's the official crowbar of the 2000 Olympics."

    - Brian

  • NO! have you seen Gattica? They can't be allowed to invent a hand held version! I assume they test for something simple and in the event they think it is a fake they send it off to be DNA tested. sounds like a bit of a gimick. How long will the DNA be valid? I don't think it will do very well through a 90 degree wash with Arial Ultra.
  • What if the counterfeiters decided to duplicate the source of the DNA instead of the tee shirt? Would we get more athletes? Is that illegal too or are tee shirts all they care about? I mean they could have their own Olympics in not too long... Maybe they should also scan all the people in Australia to be sure they are not duplicates.
  • Since companies spend big bucks to be Olympic Sponsors, I have nothing against them protecting their right to sell official merchandise.

    On the other hand, the public at large should fear where this might lead. The existing scanners can differentiate between ink with and without the DNA strands. How long will it be before scanners can differentiate out of a database of people? Will I need a DNA sample to open a bank account? It would be for my safety, of course....and I imagine the information would be sold, bought by companies, and my every move will be tracked by marketing departments. (I honestly wonder if the current hardware is really *that* good, or if ink with some other DNA strand would look identical).

  • This brings new meaning to the marketing phrase "A little bit of us goes into everything we make."
    --
  • Hope they don't... sell blue dresses. Don't want to know what kinda DNA is on them!

    what goes with a blue dress? blew genes, of course

  • I doubt they just confiscate a sample from every vendor and then expect to find them later... My guess is that the scanner just detects that the ink is present, probably through something in the ink other than DNA, or by attaching another sort of molecule to the DNA itself that can be picked up by the scanner. Obviously, if this is all they check for then it would be easy to spoof, but I don't know of any way of making a portable scanner that could dectect a specific, unique sequence of DNA on the spot. Actually, if they applied a piece of antisense DNA that had a marker attached to it that was chemically changed upon the antisense DNA binding to its matching DNA in the ink, then they could pick it up with a scanner (pick up the chemically changed marker that is). This would require putting some sort of liquid or substance on the merchandise in order for it to be checked though. It is an interesting question.
  • And now the only thing we can do is hope that this paint is also waterproof. I'd hate to see all those crying kids who's stuffed animals are being taken away because there wasn't a trace of paint to be found in the pouring rain.
  • ..until cloning becomes common. The first thing people will do when they get their 'Mr Clone-it' kit from Wal-Mart home is to look around for a piece of DNA to play with... Mark my words, we'll end up with 600,000 identical Australian polevaulters.

    -pf

  • What is the point of authenticity in Olympic games goods? Unless you actually win a medal, the rest is just junk that will not survive the decade.

    1) The counterfeit items are more likely to be junk and not last.

    2) The IOC isn't getting a cut of the counterfeit stuff, and we all know how much they like their kickbacks... err, bribes... errr, cut. Yeah, that's it.... They just want their cut.

    NecroPuppy
    ---
    /. should change the name from Anonymous Coward to Anonymous Moron.
    It's much closer to the truth.

  • Next Week's Weekly World News Headline... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "I Was Impregnated By DNA From An Olympic T-Shirt!"

  • I can see a problem here (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Nothing prevents people from taking a sample of that concoction of DNA off a T-shirt and PCR'ing it, thus making billions of copies. Now you have your own counterfeit ink to tag stuff with the same ratio of marker-DNA to red-herring-DNA. Hello! How again did they tell something was counterfeit? Sounds a bit like securety by obscurety. Hmmm.

  • Re:Hmmm... Are you sure? (Score:3)

    by Megasphaera Elsdenii ( 54465 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2000 @03:00AM (#785931)
    The athlete's DNA was most likely simply 'copied' using PCR (polymerase chain reaction). This is a
    standard technique that sort of mimicks the DNA
    replication process that goes on in real life. It's the cornerstone of the molecular biology revolution.

    See http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~jbrown/pcr.html
    or http://www.accessexcellence.com/AB/GG/polymerase.h tml

  • ``High-quality infringements have increased during the past couple of months leading up to the games,'' said Catherine McGill, legal counsel and brand protection manager for the Sydney Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. Detail-oriented counterfeiters ``copy the swing tags, sewn-in labels and packaging. That is where the DNA comes into its own as being the absolutely foolproof, sure way to determine if something is fake.

    So how does this matter to me? Is someone going to check the DNA to see if I'm buying a counterfeit? Do I care if someone is going to check the DNA to see if I'm buying a counterfeit? It's absolutely foolproof-- all you have to do is be able to analyze DNA. Wow, those counterfeiters must be scared!


    Spooon!

  • "You've bought the Air Jordans from Nike. But, weren't they missing that extra 'umph' that we're all looking for? Well, we've fixed that problem with new Nike DNAir Jordans. That's correct, now you'll have Michael Jordan with you at all times, helping you out with his own genetic material. Buy them now."
  • I would like to retract this last sarcastic comment from my part...

    Yes, it is pointless argueing that the 1984 LA games belt buckle I also have is a pile of worthless junk. But hold on, have we got this story wrong???

    It is not the "holly" object of kitsch that will attract laughter in the future that may or may not have a value, but the DNA enclosed!

    The church has been doing this admirably for years with the holly remains of St Thingy or Santa Whatever (check out any small village's church in Europe) and so might do our future generation. "Wow, it has the spunk of Elvis, let's clone him".
    See what I mean? (sudden flashbacks of Jurassic Park are now engulfing my damaged brain). This will be a quite unique good to possess in the future, a curiosity that equals the life like remains found in Pompey, something of "importance".

    I see a lot of money to be made here! Well in 2000 years maybe... Time to try this cryogenic pod.

  • In a few years time, the sports bit will probably be dropped completely. Maybe they will start giving away medals for the best marketing campaign, the best advertisement, the nicest VIP-lounge, the biggest sponsor, the cleverest bribe, the nicest dress that was worn to one of the million parties, the funniest tie, the most empty speech, the largest batch of caviar eaten in one go, the biggest gulp of champagne, the most interesting new piece of merchandise, the most meaningless use of the word 'olympic' in one sentence, etc...
    How to make a sig
    without having an idea
  • They advertise as "The world's only clothing optional daily newspaper".

    Sure, I believe it. It sound like SF, San Fransisco that is.

  • and the murderer leaves a hat with an "official" Olypmic logo at the murder scene.

    Boy, is this anonymous athlete they used to sample DNA going to be in trouble!

    EMUSE.NET [emuse.net]
  • In principle, this could be used for a whole bunch of other
    things. And BTW it's easy enough to obtain totally unique DNA from e.g. a chicken or rabbit.

    The real problem is that the bad guys may eventually succeed in extracting the tagging DNA from the tagged item (not that this is trivial, currently). Once they have that, they can simply copy it (using PCR, a standard technique in genetics and forensic science; see my other post) into large batches of tagging ink, and use it by themselves to tag more stuff. I guess this technique will be useful for a few more years, but then become too easy to fake.
  • If they can replicate it, why can't anyone else?
  • I'm no DNA expert, but the general concensus is that there are no portable DNA scanners.

    This whole thing sounds like a scare tactic to me. Plus, how are consumers to actually know if their vendor is legit?

  • Hey (Score:1)

    by Icebox ( 153775 )
    I think this is also they way Microsoft plans to protect the Windows ME CDs.
    Stamping 'DO NOT MAKE ILLEGAL COPIES OF THIS DISC' didn't work as well as they had planned so the next step is a DNA scanner built into every CD drive and a Little Bit of Bill wiped on every disc.

  • uh... *fwap*. The HIV , the virus that causes AIDS, cannot survive outside the body for very long. Furthermore, though it shows up in a myriad of body fluids, the virus primarily infects helper T-cells, a type of blood vessels for combating disease. Besides, they would most likely have screened him over and over again =P


    --
  • The article says that they included junk DNA to keep people from knowing which bits to replicate.

  • Re:I can see a problem here (Score:4)

    by Guppy ( 12314 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2000 @03:34AM (#785944)
    "Nothing prevents people from taking a sample of that concoction of DNA off a T-shirt and PCR'ing it..."

    No, but making the counterfeit DNA tags may be quite difficult. The DNA tag probably consists of a short sequence that is present at only low concentrations. To be able to make PCR copies, you first have to figure out what primers to use, which may not be too easy since the sequence is kept secret.

    If they're smart, it will be mixed in with a lot of trash sequences as well, to serve as decoys. Since we have no way to pick out what's the real key sequence, we would have to copy them all -- and it's very easy to generate astronomical numbers of decoys.

    Of course, if someone were to get hold of the test equipment they use, then the problem becomes a lot easier.
  • come on, the ice skaters are in the WINTER Olympics ;-)

    - Bill
  • Insightful? Gods, I hope I'm kidding...
  • I suspect that the technique used to copy the athlete's DNA was most likely PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction).

    This technique apes the human DNA replication.

    For more information, read here [ukans.edu] or here [accessexcellence.com]
    .
    ..
  • ...but one has to wonder how they "extracted" the DNA material... and just how much of it...
  • Doubt it. More likely Ian Thorpe, the "Thorepedo". Australia's VERY proud of him.

  • Is this marker washable? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    What happens if you buy a piece of commemorative Olympic clothing with this DNA tag, and then wash it? Will the DNA tag be washed out, and then you can be prosecuted for possessing a counterfeit item?

    If this marker comes out in the wash, there's going to be a lot of smelly Australians (no change there :-) who daren't wash their clothes, or a lot of people being wrongly prosecuted for handling counterfeit goods.

  • Which is worse...

    Buying items of a counterfeit nature that probably have a significantly reduced cost to them.

    Or...

    Buying items that have been sprayed with strange chemicals containg particles of DNA from some sweaty australian athlete.

    I will leave the decision in your capable hands ;)
  • The officials aren't concerned with busting the buyers, it's the vendors of the fakes that they want to shut down. If you shut down one vendor, you prevent a lot of revenue loss. It wouldn't be worth it to hunt down buyers, as one buyer is a very small portion of lost revenue. Also, a portable scanner is not impossible, just very clever. It sounds like the invisible ink wouldn't last through the washing machine in order for it to work with a portable scanner, but in this case they aren't concerned with catching the merchandise after it's been bought anyway.
  • It'll destroy DNA or at least mangle it enough that it can no longer be identified yet leave the product unharmed (so long as it's made of cloth or plastic or ceramic or glass, etc.) Foil the piracy police! Microwave your olympic souvenirs today!
  • Why buy the stuff? I make my own.

    It's perfectly okey, as long as you don't sell it to the public for a profit. If you make it and wear it yourself, it's okey, as far as I know.

    I have a good sewing machine as well as a computer driven embroidery machine. This allows me to make embroidered outfits any way I want them.

    What's really neat is that I can change the logos or do my own additions to them at my will and really turn heads.

    An example is when I was volunteering for the WGBH TV auction in Boston and they told us to wear school letter jackets from your college.

    So, I made my own. I put the school's logo onto the brest pocket, but I used rainbow colors, instead of the school colors and embroidered under it,

    WPI Supports Gay Pride This really turned heads at the studio!

  • "...they included junk DNA to keep people from knowing which bits to replicate."

    Somehow I don't understand why a forger shouldn't just copy the junk DNA along with the tag DNA.

    For that matter, the "scanner" being used must be only looking at the invisible ink. If the invisible ink is not there, then a DNA test (probably an antibody reaction) can be done on the appropriate area to confirm there's no appropriate DNA there.

    Gee, they're trying to prove a negative -- the assumption is that the new merchandise has not been laundered or otherwise had the markings damaged. Don't leave your T-shirts in the sun for a month while trying to sell them...

  • Anyone remember GATTACA?!?!!
  • Now, I'm no DNA expert, but how can that be reliable? I'm assuming the DNA is no longer "alive" and regenerating once its used in the ink. So, is susceptable to breakdown and will not be able to duplicate itself.

    So won't exposure to certain wavelengths of light (UV, etc.) damage the DNA? If a rack of Olympic Windbreakers are hanging in a shop window, couldn't the tags have their special ink altered by direct sunlight?

  • It *is* mixed in with a lot of trash sequences as well.

    Jeez, why not actually read the article instead of just "first semi-lucent post" karma-whoring?
  • I saw no mention that the athlete was competing in the Olympics. Maybe it was someone who completed their walkabout.
  • Static testing will start soon, with the prototype anchored to the ground. They have to ensure all the systems work before they can try any flight testing. Just a little longer...
  • ...these are the lengths to which the IOC will go to ensure that every last fucking dollar that can be squeezed out of the "Olympic" name -- a name which rings hollow to me now -- goes into their pockets and no one else's.

    Fuck them all.

    - A.P.
    --


    "One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad

  • Mostly Hype (Score:3)

    by dmearns ( 156236 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2000 @04:40AM (#785963)
    Like a lot of you, I wondered how they can non-destructivly authenticate DNA in the field. Take a look at the PSA/DNA web site [psadna.com]. This is a sports memorabilia authentication company with a gimmick. They include synthetic DNA in a special ink which is used to tag an item. A special laser can make the tagging visible. Does the laser prove which DNA lot was used to tag the item? NO way! Eventually, someone will figure out how to make an ink that glows under the special laser, and their system will be worthless. Presumably, a sample could be taken to the lab, and analyzed, but this would be expensive, slow and destructive -- the very things they claim not to be.
  • Probably a hoax. Detectors would be imensely expensive, slow (a DNA examination takes a few hours IIRC). Also the sample needs to be prepped,and I wouldn't be surprised if the autoinjection etc stuff makes the sequencer to big to carry
  • It is in the Olympics best interest to make sure there is no garbage merchandise being sold as "official." The NBA, NFL, and other leagues all have similar standards. (Try to find an official NBA product that does not have that little, shiny silver hologram sticker on it.)

    Before I get my panties in a bunch over how greedy the Olympics organization is, I'd like to know how the profits are used. I doubt they go straight into some fatcat's pocket. More than likely they are used to fund the games (which, btw, costs a lot of money to run!).

    Oh and by the way, you can duplicate DNA without having to go back and get more samples from the donor, but hey what do I know.

    I hate to break this to you, but the people with enough money to duplicate DNA are not selling fake Olympic apparel! Sheesh!

    -thomas

    "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
  • "Nothing prevents people from taking a sample of that concoction of DNA off a T-shirt and PCR'ing it..."

    To be able to make PCR copies, you first have to figure out what primers to use, which may not be too easy since the sequence is kept secret.

    If they're smart, it will be mixed in with a lot of trash sequences as well, to serve as decoys. Since we have no way to pick out what's the real key sequence, we would have to copy them all -- and it's very easy to generate astronomical numbers of decoys.

    As I did in another thread, I have to just alert you guys to a simple fact. The people that sell and make money off of fake Olympic apparel are not criminal masterminds with the know-how, skills, and money to duplicate DNA and get it on the merchandise in the same way as the official product.

    Half of these people can't even spell DNA, I'm sure.

    Christ, it would be cheaper just to license the products from the Olympics organization!

    -thomas


    "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

  • Whales (Score:1)

    by craw ( 6958 )
    As some of you know the Japanese periodically conduct "scientific" whaling studies. A few years ago, this involved the sampling of several minke whales; no other whale species was supposed to involved. After conducting their test, the whale meat was then sold in Japan.

    A foreign (American?) scientist wanted to test the veracity of the Japanese claims that only minke whales were killed. So he bought some of the canned whale meat in Japan, then did DNA testing on the meat. Surprise, several other whales species were identified.

    Please no flames about the evil or virtue of whaling. You can make OJ jokes, although his DNA was not found in sampled whale meat.:)

  • Sunlight induces adjacent "T" (thymine, one of the four basic units used in building DNA) residues to crosslink (form covalent bond-bridges where they don't belong).

    This is a problem when in happens to a living cell, as it leads to mutations that, when accumulated (particularly with the increase in mutation rate experienced in old age), can cause cancer. It is UV light in particular that induces this thymine dimer formation. This is an especially large problem in Australia, coincidentally, given the ozone hole.

    This will happen to the DNA applied to olympic clothing as well, but it will be of no consequence, as it does not need to be replicated any further. I presume the means to detect the secret DNA code is a hybridization technique -- a complementary strand of DNA (remember how DNA is a *double* helix?) with a fluorescent tag is applied to the label. If the "probe" find something to stick to, it will stick through a mild washing, and light up when the right wavelength of light is shone upon it. The length of DNA to be recognized is probably pretty long (else it would be easy enough to foil), which means the odd thymine dimer here and there won't disrupt the annealing (pairing of complementary DNA strands) much.

    ---------
    Once in a while you get shown the light,
  • legit vendors? Easy! put 10 random vendors in a row. the one with the highest prices is 'legit'
  • ...but one has to wonder how they "extracted" the DNA material... and just how much of it...

    I believe the standard technique is to take a swab of the inside of your cheek. Enough cells there to get some DNA.

    And once you have your DNA it's very easy to replicate it in any amounts needed.

    So, no, I don't think this is a "frog in a blender" case.

    Kaa
  • In order for the sense strand to be able to hybridize for this, the DNA tag would be susceptible to degradation by washing the merchandise, right? (not that it would matter in this case-they just want to catch the vendors). Does a unique sequence of DNA emit a unique wavelength of light that can be detected? I don't think so, but I'm not sure.
  • I bow to your superior searching skills :-)
  • At what point did it become a 'loss' when you failed to sell your overpriced merchandise? It sounds from the story that other label-sellers are doing this too. I just have this idea that one pair of stinking jeans are about the same as any other and the label on the back makes no difference. But that's just an idea . . .

  • Most likely the scanner can detect the presence of DNA, but WHOSE DNA is not immediately evident. Just wait, those wily chinee counterfeiters will add someone else's DNA to their tags in about 2 weeks. Probably Chairman Mao's, if they have a sense of humor.
  • I can't believe the IOC would stoop this low! To shut down some low-key, Mom and Pop counterfeiters like this is simply anti-free enterprise and anti-capitalist!

    Bootlegging stuff is a cornerstone of a small, but important market. It's the freedom to innovate, just like Microsoft.

    But the IOC doesn't view it like that. They are just so afraid that a small-time vendor here or there might cut into their billion dollar profits! So, off to jail with you - heathen! How dare you try to make money off of our amateur sporting events!

    Greed is a powerful thing.

    There is an equal mix of humor, honesty and trolling in the above statements

  • In an effort to provide a 'level playing field' for Olympic merchandizers, all merchandise for the Summer Games will be branded with DNA markers to assure their authenticity, and to provide all fans with some small part of the essence of their heroes.

    And in related news, the Olympic comittee has unanimously voted to begin charging athletes for the privilege of competing in the Olympiad.

    Beginning in 2000, the ability to perform to World Class(tm) standards is still required, as is the new entry fee of "an arm and a leg".

    The REAL jabber has the /. user id: 13196

  • If this were the case, would they have to walk up to a vendor and apply the probe to the label? Not that it couldn't be done, but it seems impractical. (Please correct me if I'm wrong) Also, if they added the probe before printing it would ruin the specificity of the test, since it could be any DNA hybrid attached to the marker. Not that that kind of counterfeit DNA label would be practical for the counterfeiters, but in principle the specificity of the tag would still be gone. Their website seems to imply that they can detect the unique sequence of DNA with a specially calibrated laser without the prior application of a probe, which I find hard to explain.
  • then why aren't we seeing more practical uses of this technology. I'm specifically thinking about newborn babies. Take a bit of dna from the Mom and put it on a wristband for the baby and take a bit from the baby and put it on a wristband for the Mom. No baby is allowed out of the hospital without DNA matching being done on the wristbands.

    If the detector just detects the presence of DNA, then doesn't this article give the counterfeitor's carte blanche to put any ol' DNA in the ink and circumvent this pathetic security measure? Whatever happened to holograms? I thought they were the best anti-counterfeiting methods. Pretty soon U.S. money is going to be encoded with Greenspan's DNA.

  • I hate to break this to you, but the people with enough money to duplicate DNA are not selling fake Olympic apparel! Sheesh!

    not-so-long-ago, the same was said about hologram-stickers.


    --
    Why pay for drugs when you can get Linux for free ?

  • my a$$! give me a break.... (Score:3)

    by shamino ( 146659 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2000 @05:33AM (#785980) Homepage
    I have a hard enough time getting DNA to survive a few days in a pH buffered solution, let alone stuck to a friggin' t-shirt. What a bunch of crap. DNA hydrolyzes faster than my kid sister drops a load in her drawers at a cheesy horror film. And as for scanners? Uh-huh. Not even worth a reply... Shamino
  • Damn, I knew it was too good to be true. All these years of offering sacrifices in the temple of Nylon, only to discover that he's a counterfeit Olympic god. I'll bet Zeus is pissed.

    Somewhat on-topic: is it common for Australian parents to not name children they believe will grow up to be athletes?

  • Q: What do you get if you cross the five Olympic rings with a double helix?

    A: Lots of Dollar Signs!

    The REAL jabber has the /. user id: 13196

  • I was really looking forward to trying and making the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake, UT, as it's not too far.

    Given the way the IOC is acting, I do not even want to come close to giving them any money whatsoever. Too bad too :(

    Well...hmmm...maybe if I could get some DNA from skier Donna Weinbrecht (or give some - he he he)! :)
  • I said, I hate to break this to you, but the people with enough money to duplicate DNA are not selling fake Olympic apparel! Sheesh!

    You said, not-so-long-ago, the same was said about hologram-stickers.

    Now I'm saying: Right, and then we came up with embedded DNA strands. And once that becomes cheap and easy enough for any schmoe to do, there will be something better, and so on...

    -thomas

    "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

  • Yes, but what if that person clones themselves? Would that be piracy?


    -RickHunter
  • Is there really a portable DNA scanner available? Does it tell whose DNA is on the object?


    ___________

  • No kidding. The Sydney Red Cross got blasted by the IOC for using the word "Olympic" for the latest Blood donation drive to get more blood donations ahead of the Olympic games.

    Sheesh. I reckon Sydney hospitals should strike back by telling all Olympic officials that there is no blood available for any of them if they require any sort of transfusion.



  • Of course, if someone were to get hold of the test equipment they use, then the problem becomes a lot easier.

    Or just get hold of the original athlete - enough DNA there to tag millions of articles, as long as you mince him up fine enough.... :)

  • What's so great about this olympic merchandise that it's worth more than the counterfit goods? If it's worthwhile to counterfit, it's because it costs way less to make it than people will pay for it. Why are people willing to spend so much on The Official Olympic Frob? Because some Australian jerked off on it?

    Sports is cool, it gives us a place to research human improvements. Selling merchandise is cool, it helps pay for the whole thing. What I'm questioning is the margin the Olympics are getting for their merchandise.

  • Hmm .. so I suppose if you knew someone who worked in a molecular biology lab with a PCR machine (my boss's wife does, for example), you may be able to create some pretty good counterfeits that would pass their authenticity tests.

    The usual one-upmanship battle, never ends, does it?

  • Except most people wait until seeing a little skin before they "submit a DNA sample"
  • Does a unique sequence of DNA emit a unique wavelength of light that can be detected?

    No.

  • ``Olympic officials are fighting counterfeit 'official' Olympic merchandise.''

    You are all forgetting that the Olympics are now the intellectual property of whatever well-heeled mucky-mucks are able to bring them to a city. How dare you think that just anyone can draw five circles on a T-shirt and get away with selling it without paying tribute to aforementioned mucky-mucks in the form of a fat licensing fee.

    Of course, I can still remember when the Olympic atheletes actually held day jobs and competed for their love of the sport. (Yah, yah, I know, how quaint.) It really is no fun at all to watch the Olympics any more.



    --

  • I just want to know how they are scanning the stuff so quickly! Or maybe it's not so quick. I mean, think about that. If they can just wave a ComCat barcode scanner (not really) over your face and determine if your DNA matches against some database, then we're a little closer to Big Brother than I'm comfy with. And I'm not talking about some lame TV show... Those mercandise scanners at the music store could scan your ass as you walk in and they start watching you if your DNA matches a known shoplifter from a database. The possibilities are endless. How about a car that recognizes it's owner by touch. Would only have to put your hand on the door handle and it opens up just for you... Okay, I'm being paranoid. I'll go eat lunch now and I'll feel better. I suppose if I actually read the article I'd feel foolish (oops, too late).
  • I have to agree with you. (although using "synthetic" DNA would not be unusual, all DNA that results from PCR can be said to be synthesized)

    If this is the case, they are misleading a lot of collectors and the Olympics commission which hired them.

    From their website:

    "This liquid includes a unique formula of DNA and optical labels with rare light-emitting chemicals. You can view the authenticating mark with a specially calibrated laser, which is set to the exact frequency used by PSA/DNA, and it will glow a bright green or red color"

    They don't specifically say that the laser is detecting a unique sequence of DNA, only that it is detecting their special formula. Is this hype or an outright lie?

  • Re:Wait till the MPAA hears about this!!! (Score:3)

    by rnturn ( 11092 ) on Tuesday September 12, 2000 @07:08AM (#785996)

    Heh, heh, heh.

    I can see it now: The MPAA requires that all DVD players incorporate DNA scanning technology. You insert your DVD and the player sniffs the air, waits a little bit, and finally says:

    ``I'm sorry, Dave. This DVD was purchased by you and only you are authorized to view it. I won't be allowed to enable playing this DVD until Susan and Jimmy leave the room. Of course, Fluffy, your cat, may stay.''



    --

  • My question is, when is MS going to pick up on this for their PID cards? Have you ever looked closely to the Certificate of Authenticy that you receive with MS products? Talk about elaborate. There's even color changing ink that changes color from heat when you put your finger on it. There are more security features on a MS PID than there are on a $100 bill.

    kwsNI
  • Oh, cool. This should occur on Slashdot sometime next week...

    Intertwined Quickies, Aussie Style
    [ Sex [slashdot.org] ] Posted by quux26 [mailto] on 12:35 PM September 14th, 2000
    dagget purchases a DNA-tagged USO shirt [sfgate.com], rufDEV ports CueCat [slashdot.org] to that $35,000 Cray [ebay.com] up for sale on eBay, some people over at CERN started watching way too many episodes of Weird Science and a Norwegian kid is busted for owning his very own Mia Hamm clone. Coincidence? Can you blame him?? We think not.

    My .02
    Quux26

  • I'm not sure I understand what's being described here. The only use of said technology, at least from my standpoint, is to print items with some sort of invisible-ink 'barcode'. That the barcode is encoded with information originally described in some jock's DNA is a moot marketing point.

    They appear, however, to describe a process by which they extract the DNA directly into the ink, but with the typically press-friendly vagueness. Were it actual strands, how would a 'small portable reader' pick them up?

    In the end, I can see only three options:

    • The technology doesn't exist, and this is all a scare tactic. That LA company merely sells a method to frighten people into subservience.
    • The technology doesn't work anything even remotely close to the way it's described (marketing people describing complex concepts - *shudder*)
    • They actually have a cool technology here, light-years ahead of everything else, and are using it to stamp plush toys instead of cure cancer.
    I don't know which option is most frightening.

    Although, now that I think about it, it would be pretty neat to have your PGP encryption code loosely based on some strands of your DNA. Completely useless, but still kinda cool.
    ---

  • I see, sort of like the "race against piracy" with copy protection in the Commodore/Atari/Amiga days... :)

    Well, it's a little different. We're not talking about something that makes it harder for the consumer to use merchandise that they've rightfully purchased. We're talking about, basically, a theft deterrent.

    Just like banks used to throw ink grenades into money bags during a heist, where as now they have moved on to discrete, traceable transponders that are glued between two real dollar bills. Usually on the bottom of the money drawer.

    An interesting side note... one of my friends used to work at a bank. During a holdup, they had these "transponders" on the bottom of their drawers, so she slipped them into the piles of money. The robber said, "Wait a second..." Grabbed the stack of money, leafed through it, and then pulled "one" bill out of the pile... a particularly thick bill. He threw it in her face and laughed, "Nice try."

    I guess they'll come up with smaller transponders in the future...

    Weird, huh kids?

    -thomas

    "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
  • My great grandfather was selling Olympic stuff at the 1904 St Louis Games. He didn't have the IOC permission beforehand and didn't get sued even though they knew he was doing it. They didn't even ask him to stop. So was he a counterfeiter or not?

    I'm wondering if the courts would consider 96 years of not protecting your "trademark" enough to allow me to sell stuff down near the stadium.

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