Found DNA Can Create a 3-D Model of Strangers

   Heather Dewey-Hagborg, an information artist from Brooklyn, has found a way to create a portrait of a stranger using only DNA found on the ground or in the garbage.  You are leaving trails of DNA behind you everywhere you go, like chewing gum you spit out, a hair that falls off you while walking, or a cigarette butt you stomp out. 

Dewey-Hagborg collects bits of trash laced with strangers’ DNA and it is coded.  As of right now, the only traits she is capable of reading is eye color, gender, and maternal ethnicity.  She then searches through a database of possible faces and choses the most aesthetically pleasing face to be showed as a printed 3-D model in her most recent project, "Stranger Visions" in an art gallery.  Although they are only printed 3-D pictures that in no way fully resemble her ‘subject’ the pictures are still very life-like because she uses a high quality 3-D printer.

This project is still in its beginning stages, but it has loads of room for evolution and perfection.  This could be used to search for missing children or criminals after it is nearly perfected.  Just remember, any time you give spit your gum out, you are leaving your DNA behind for anyone who wants it.