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- Found On The Net (https://thetfp.com/tfp/found-net/)

- - DNArt (https://thetfp.com/tfp/found-net/130878-dnart.html)

I've been looking for some new art for my place and I think I may have just found it at this site:
http://www.dna11.com/

They take your DNA code at create a piece of art on canvas for you. VERY novel idea and I think very tasteful. Simply swab the inside of your cheek just like you used to in Bio 101, mail it in, and get a gorgeous canvas in whatever color you want so that you can have an intelligent conversation piece.

what a clever idea. and the fact of it being a conversation piece only adds to it.

It's way better than a landscape or something, imho. I'm looking at the red one or the orange one, medium size.

That's awesome!

I actually worked with my own mtDNA in my honors molecular genetics class. We also worked with bacterial DNA--fun stuff. I might still have the photos of my gels, so I might be able to paint my own! Sweet!

Hmmm well if I ever commit a crime and DNA is involved, they can hold up their test to my new wall decoration.

I dont trust the government with my dna...I wouldn't trust some random company with an internet site with it either.

merleniau brings up the valid point that it would be very easy to make your own. If you're worried about the men in black, just make your own gels. I'm sure you can get basic kits from science class suppliers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sion

I dont trust the government with my dna...I wouldn't trust some random company with an internet site with it either.

Oooh, better scrape your scalp and get those loose hairs before you leave the house.

...

Nevermind. I'm a DoD slave.

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

We ran gels through electrophoresis in high school, even. I think the only thing you might not find cheaply is a good centrifuge. I think we used the little squeezy pipets in high school and they came out fine.. molgen, on the other hand, was a lot more precise since we were doing "real" experiments.

The pattern you'll get depends on what enzyme you use to cut the DNA. I would assume that you can get different restriction enzymes to create different patterns.

It was also kind of a pain in the ass to isolate mitochondrial DNA in molgen. Involved ice baths, warm water baths, all kinds of stuff.. I think the kits we used in high school were pre-packaged DNA that just needed to be cut with an enzyme and put in the wells in a gel to run against a ladder.

Quote:

Originally Posted by merleniau

We ran gels through electrophoresis in high school, even. I think the only thing you might not find cheaply is a good centrifuge.

Most people (esp. men, for some odd reason) have strong enough forearms to emulate a centrifuge to the degree where one will get the desired result.

http://www.carolina.com/product/life...ortby=ourPicks

http://www.carolina.com/product/life...ortby=ourPicks

http://www.carolina.com/product/life...ortby=ourPicks

All of those require a thermal cycler (water bath[s]), electrophoresis equipment, and micropipetors.

I'm a big nerd, so I'm loving looking this stuff up.

Holy crap, the electrophoresis equipment is expensive: http://www.carolina.com/product/213620.do

I'll post again if I can find something more reasonable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by merleniau

The pattern you'll get depends on what enzyme you use to cut the DNA. I would assume that you can get different restriction enzymes to create different patterns.

My first thought was exactly 'I wonder what restriction enzymes they use?'

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNA 11

Labwork
01.
We receive your DNA sample
When you mail your sample to our secure laboratory, it arrives with a barcode that we scan. Your identity is secure: the tracking number from the barcode is the only reference the lab works with. (No one at the lab will know who you are.) As soon as the barcode has been scanned, an automatic email is sent to you indicating that we have received your DNA sample.

02.
We begin the labwork
Now we get down to work. We extract your DNA from the FTA card and suspend the sample in a liquid buffer. We then put your DNA through a process that searches and isolates unique sequences found in your genome. (Everyone has a different number of these sequences found at different locations.) We put your DNA through a process called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to replicate your unique sequences so we have enough of them to visualize. The result is several different pieces of DNA of differing sizes and amounts. No two people have the same combination.

03.
We run your DNA through a gel
We now take these resulting strands of DNA and separate them in an agarose gel. With small pores throughout the gel matrix, the gel works like a sieve. Once the DNA is loaded into the gel, we run a current through it in a process called electrophoresis, which causes the DNA to move through the gel medium. Smaller pieces of DNA move faster than larger pieces through the gel pores. The result is a series of DNA strands, separated from one another based on size, with the largest strands on the top of the gel and the smallest bands at the bottom. This puts your unique DNA into a unique order.

04.
We stain and illuminate your DNA
The resulting gel is completely clear. There is nothing to see with the naked eye alone, but your DNA is there waiting to be illuminated. To make your DNA visible, we stain it with an ultraviolet, excitable dye called ethidium bromide. We place the stained gel on an ultraviolet transilluminator where the dye, now excited, begins to fluoresce.

05.
We capture the image
We then move a high-power, biological-grade camera into place above the UV transilluminator, and capture an image of the gel with your DNA shining through!

That was the most detailed description I could find on their website. This raised a second question, 'What loci to the amplify with PCR?'. Which now makes me somewhat skeptical, I mean, depending on which loci they use their may only be a couple of alleles for each locus, which means your odds of being completely unique are much lower than if the whole genome was included. For example say there are only 3 alleles at each of 5 different loci that they use, thats only 125 different possible portraits, although this number increases with the use of different digestions, there are still only 125 different sequences to digest. Although that doesn't say anything about a restriction enzyme digestion, so maybe they don't do it.

I realize they say that

Quote:

We then put your DNA through a process that searches and isolates unique sequences found in your genome

But I have a hard time believing they actually do this as it would be extraordinarily expensive, and so far I don't know of any speedy, reliable way to scan the entire genome. Then they would have to create their own primers specially for you, not that that step is hard, but for a commercial endeavor It would be much easier and more cost effective to have a standard set on hand to use. Not to mention the very large problem of not having access to every single persons complete genome to be able to say 'hey, these are unique to you and nobody else can possibly have just this sequence.'

Basically, I'm calling BS on their supposed method. I'm thinking it was probably written by a combination designer/marketing team who based it off some notes they really didn't read or understand enough to be able to say what's going on anyway.

Of course this isn't to say it's not damn cool, which it is. I would still love to have one. Of course I would be inclined to attempt my own having already done one in genetics lab. I would skip the thermal bath and just use a thermometer/hotplate/stove& pan combination. I realize this would be remarkably tedious but would work. I would also be crazy about building my own electrophoresis apparatus. This I don't think would be especially difficult either, since I could build my own AC to DC converter and the depth of the buffer is more important that the chamber construction (to a degree). UV lights are cheap enough, but ethidium bromide is toxic, and would need special disposal, which could be costly.

I liked the kiss/lip pics better....but that's just me

xoxoxoo

Im with bobby.

The DNA potrait is awesome, but i like the lips better.

Tacky.
I see enough of these every day. (studying plant genetics) Why would I want to look at them when I'm at home? I think I'd go crazy.

And how do you know it's your DNA? I mean, really... you could be looking at a gel run of a yeast for all you know.

I prefer the kiss portraits over the DNArt.