3 ms·

So, can this be used to track where people have been? Follow the plume of DNA from the skin cells they shed? Is it an immediately useful way to tell if someon

by rapjr9 6y ago

So, can this be used to track where people have been? Follow the plume of DNA from the skin cells they shed? Is it an immediately useful way to tell if someone has COVID-19? Could it be used to covertly build a database with a unique DNA ID for all people? How fast is it, how much does it cost, are there consumables that have to be replaced? Some answers here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Nanopore_Technologies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Nanopore_Technologies https://nanoporetech.com/ https://nanoporetech.com/ This does not seem to bode well for privacy.

dmos62 6y ago
It's sad that our privacy and hence well-being is so intimately threatened by technological progress. It says something about the powers that be. In the ideal setup, we'd only be thrilled by new technology, while legislature and its enforcement would regulate things that might harm us, like tracking.
amelius 6y ago
> So, can this be used to track where people have been? The same can be said about cameras. And DNA tracks are easier to fake.
koeng 6y ago
Yea, you can use it for COVID19 diagnostic tests. I did that back in April-ish for a project before they redirected the Nanopore reagents to commercial COVID testing. Yes, it could be used to build a database, so long as you have a good amount of DNA from the person. Honestly, governments are already doing this with Illumina runs, so no diff there really. It immediately generates runs, and tapers off at about 12-24 hours, and using a full flow cell takes like 48. How long you run it for depends on depth of reads. Flongle flow cells cost $99 and approximately $200 at end of day and minion flow cells cost about $1000, with minion being about 10x as good as flongle. The primary cost is definitely consumables, the capex for these devices is very low.

3 ms·

So, can this be used to track where people have been? Follow the plume of DNA from the skin cells they shed? Is it an immediately useful way to tell if someon

by rapjr9 6y ago

dmos62 6y ago
It's sad that our privacy and hence well-being is so intimately threatened by technological progress. It says something about the powers that be. In the ideal setup, we'd only be thrilled by new technology, while legislature and its enforcement would regulate things that might harm us, like tracking.
amelius 6y ago
> So, can this be used to track where people have been? The same can be said about cameras. And DNA tracks are easier to fake.
koeng 6y ago
Yea, you can use it for COVID19 diagnostic tests. I did that back in April-ish for a project before they redirected the Nanopore reagents to commercial COVID testing. Yes, it could be used to build a database, so long as you have a good amount of DNA from the person. Honestly, governments are already doing this with Illumina runs, so no diff there really. It immediately generates runs, and tapers off at about 12-24 hours, and using a full flow cell takes like 48. How long you run it for depends on depth of reads. Flongle flow cells cost $99 and approximately $200 at end of day and minion flow cells cost about $1000, with minion being about 10x as good as flongle. The primary cost is definitely consumables, the capex for these devices is very low.