Artist recreates peoples' faces from DNA in hair, gum

No, she does not appear to be working for the government. But yes, she might just make a portrait of you based on DNA from your hair —or the chewing gum you left at the park.

 

Artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg, 30, said she creates portrait sculptures from analyzing the genetic material left in public places.

 

"Working with the traces strangers unwittingly leave behind, (she) calls attention to the impulse toward genetic determinism and the potential for a culture of genetic surveillance," an article on her website said.

 

An article on Smithsonian Magazine said Dewey-Hagborg would collect DNA from "common" objects such as hairs from a public bathroom, and place them in plastic bags.

 

From hair, she expanded her search to other types of forensic evidence like fingernails, and even cigarette butts and chewing gum, usually from areas like sidewalks and subway cars in New York City where she is based.

 

She then analyzes the samples with the help of computer software - she is also a PhD student studying electronic arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

 

The software in turn produces a model of the face of the person who left the DNA sample.

 

Using the facial models, she then makes actual sculptures with a 3D printer.

 

“It came from this place of noticing that we are leaving genetic material everywhere. That, combined with the increasing accessibility to molecular biology and these techniques means that this kind of science fiction future is here now. It is available to us today. The question really is what are we going to do with that?” Dewey-Hagborg said.

 

In one case, Dewey-Hagborg analyzed the DNA on a cigarette butt she picked up at Myrtle Avenue, and determined the smoker was a male of Eastern European descent with brown eyes.

 

Detective work

 

On the other hand, she is now working on a cold case after Hal Brown of Delaware’s medical examiner’s office contacted her about the remains of an unidentified woman who had died 20 years ago.

 

He wondered if Dewey-Hagborg could make a portrait of her, to help investigators identify her. Dewey-Hagborg is now working on a sculpture from a DNA sample Brown provided.

 

“I have always had a love for detective stories, but never was part of one before. It has been an interesting turn for the art to take. It is hard to say just yet where else it will take me," she said.

 

Do-it-yourself

 

In the early stages of her project, she also took a crash course in molecular biology at Genspace, a do-it-yourself biology lab in Brooklyn.

 

There, she learned about DNA extraction and a technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

 

She uses standard DNA extraction kits she orders online, to analyze the DNA in her samples.

 

'Limits'

 

But Smithsonian Mag said Dewey-Hagborg also has limits on what she will pick up - she will not swipe DNA samples in saliva or used condoms.

 

She added she has been most successful with cigarette butts.

 

“They [smokers] really get their gels into that filter of the cigarette butt. There just tends to be more stuff there to actually pull the DNA from,” she said.

 

On the other hand, Smithsonian Mag noted there is no way to gauge the accuracy of Dewey-Hagborg’s sculptures - not even the age of a person based on the DNA gathered.

 

”We are really just starting to learn about that information,” she said. — TJD, GMA News