ph0t0bug

Can you believe this one? The 3D printer can print a portrait from DNA!
Artist 3D-prints portraits from DNA left in public places
Artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg collects gum, hair, and cigarette butts from public places to extract DNA data and create 3D portraits based on genetics.

by Amanda Kooser May 8, 2013 8:31 AM PDT
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See anybody you know?
(Credit: Heather Dewey-Hagborg)
We can't help but leave our DNA all over the place. If you drop a chewed piece of gum or a cigarette butt, it might get picked up by artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg. She may mine it for DNA, analyze the results, and generate a portrait based on the data. That's either really spooky, really cool, or a bit of both.
Dewey-Hagborg's Stranger Visions project combines artistry and science while raising questions about genetic privacy. She starts by collecting genetic material from public places. She then analyzes it at a lab, mining the DNA for information like gender, ethnicity, and eye color.
The data is then fed into a custom computer program that translates the information into a 3D model of a face. That model is printed out in color using a ZCorp 3D printer. The results are disembodied faces, but they aren't exact copies of the person who dropped the DNA. Dewey-Hagborg describes it as a "family resemblance."
Stranger Visions all began with Dewey-Hagborg contemplating a stranger's stray hair. Combined with her viewing of forensics television programs like "CSI," and an interest in the issue of genetic surveillance, the artist decided to create the 3D portraits. It's a particularly unusual version of found art.
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"Working with the traces strangers unwittingly leave behind, Dewey-Hagborg calls attention to the impulse toward genetic determinism and the potential for a culture of genetic surveillance," reads the project description. It's enough to make you think twice about brushing your hair in public.
Dewey-Hagborg has been working on the Stranger Visions project for over a year. She will be giving a talk at New York City community biolab Genspace on June 13 and showing her work at QF Gallery on Long Island starting on June 29. If you stop by, take a good look. You just might get a sense of familiarity about some of those portraits.

Heather Dewey-Hagborg stands with her DNA self-portrait.
(Credit: Dan Phiffer)
(Via Colossal)
Topics:Geek culture Tags:3D printing, DNA, Heather Dewey-Hagborg Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET's Crave blog. When not wallowing in weird gadgets and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.

ph0t0bug

Sorry I couldn't figure out how to add the photo since the text was sent without images. Here's the artist & portrait.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Here's the link to the first part of the thread:
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-117708-1.html

ph0t0bug

Thanks for posting that. I couldn't figure out how to save the whole article in original form.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

You have up to an hour to edit your post, including adding a photo (Add New Attachment).
Interesting (and somewhat creepy) story.

ph0t0bug

Thanks,I tried that,didn't work.In fact I tried a couple of times.

FredB Loc: A little below the Mason-Dixon line.

That may or may not be a good "DNA" picture of this chick, but her 'real' picture is pretty crappy, if you ask me. 4/5ths of her face is in shadow, she's looking off at an angle, and so on. I'm not coming down on you, P-bug, just this horrible photograph that she's trying to use to illustrate her rather useless 'project'.

ph0t0bug

I really didn't even notice. I was so fascinated by what that printer can do.I knew about the gun it printed and thought that was the most amazing thing I'd ever heard until I saw this!

T2i_Lorne Loc: Surrey BC Canada

Regardless of the photo, the technology is very cool! I have been watching it take shape over the past several years. As a hobbyist 3D nerd, I would love to see some of my creations take a solid form - if only to sit on my mantle and look cool :thumbup:

It has value to the photography world too when you consider that most 3D meshes use photographic textures to simulate actual texture.

ph0t0bug

Do you think it will be used to identify suspects in crimes?

FredB Loc: A little below the Mason-Dixon line.

You seem to be confusing this "DNA" portrait stuff with 3D printing - two separate subjects.
Yeah, she creates a 3D 'mask' but it's not the same kind of thing as printing a 3D wrench from a CAD drawing.

This DNA portraiture will have to get a helluva lot closer to the actual real subject to be of any use in criminal investigations.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

Every generation lives in amazing times when it comes to advancements in our horizons!

I read that the first printed gun was recently fired successfully... THAT makes me really wonder where science is taking us. The implications of this are quite disturbing to me.

Shutter Bugger

"Big Brother" is loving this.

olcoach Loc: Oregon

I think I need to get off this bus.

iDoc Loc: Knoxville,Tennessee

DNA-RNA--------BS!