Writers often send me questions about DNA, and most include something about the turn around time for DNA analysis. Ten years ago the answer was weeks, five years ago hours, and now it seems only minutes are required.
Engineers at the University of Washington and scientists at NanoFracture, a company in Bellevue, WA, have developed a DNA extractor that uses electrodes and not spinning centrifuges to perform the critical and time-consuming step of removing DNA from any body fluid. And it does so in only a couple of minutes. Then on to a sequencer and before you know it you have a DNA profile.
Though not commercially available yet, this technology exists and it will be interesting to see how it progresses. Of course, it’s fiction-ready right now.
