Not long ago, I came across a report that really grabbed my attention, and I wanted to pass it on to the readers of my blog. The article was entitled, “Scientists are Vacuuming Animal DNA Out of the Air,” and it was published in the January/February, 2023 issue of Discover magazine. I’m sure all readers are familiar with a variety of DNA-based tests that can be done by scientists on humans and animal species alike, but this article reveals that this science has been raised to an entirely new level. In scientific tests in Europe, it was proven that scientists can tell what animals have been in an area by literally “vacuuming the air” of the area for remnants of each species’ DNA that is shed by animals in residual “bits of their genomes into the environments, through saliva, skin, feces, fur, feathers and more.” One of the ways that would be included in the “more” part of that quote would be that creatures also leave residues of their presence behind them as they shed bits of DNA in dead skin cells wherever they sleep, live, travel, etc.

The Discover article is included as the first link, which I urge you to read as it is succinct and convincing. One test of DNA Vacuuming was done at the Copenhagen Zoo, where this new technology not only detected the DNA that was present in the area from animals held in captivity but it also harvested the DNA left behind by wild animals in that physical location. In past studies of animals that inhabited particular areas, trail cams were generally the best means of confirming the presence of which animals (including rare ones) were in a certain area during a specific period of time. This DNA Vacuuming technology will do a far better job of doing this activity. Animal surveys can now harvest DNA directly from the environment and tell which animals inhabited or passed through a given area during the time of the test. The article relates that this method “could revolutionize biodiversity monitoring and improve ecological decision-making.” While the technology is not perfect, it is remarkably successful already. The article concludes that “collecting airborne DNA is much easier than anyone predicted.”

The second link, dating to almost two years ago, adds that DNA Vacuuming methods also successfully track DNA from butterflies, beetles, insects, frogs and birds. It affirms this new technology is already been in use and in testing for 2 years, and it suggests that this new technology could be used to alert farmers when invasive species enter their production areas. I found various articles in a web search about this technology, but I had to hunt for one which verified the obvious: that if living creatures can be tracked by their residual (and microscopic) DNA left behind them, that humans can be tracked collectively and individually as well. The third link acknowledges that humans can be tracked via DNA Vacuuming, and it asserts that the technology even works in aquatic environments so it can detect the presence of various species of fish and other creatures that inhabit rivers, lakes, ponds, etc. This link also suggests that tracking humans via DNA Vacuuming could be used for applications in criminal forensics and disease tracking.

I’d like to opine about other applications that could be accomplished via DNA Vacuuming of human beings. Some would be beneficial and others even sinister. It could be used by law enforcement agencies or military/intelligence personnel to locate where criminal and refugees alike have been traveling or are present. Prison escapees could be tracked far more easily as all inmates’ DNA would be kept on file whenever they are incarcerated. Escapees from prisoner-of-war facilities could also be monitored and tracked if they escaped. People who have been kidnapped or are being trafficked could be more easily tracked, found and rescued via this new technology. One malevolent way that this technology could be used is it offers a new way to scientifically and easily “frame” someone of a crime they didn’t commit. Criminals inside or outside official agencies could harvest DNA from someone they wish to frame by first obtaining it via their homes, cars, gyms, offices, barber shops, businesses they frequent, etc. I’ll bet everyone leaves their DNA on their computer keyboards and cell-phones via dead skin cells shed onto the keys. If you ever sneezed on your computer keyboard or cell-phone, you put your DNA on those objects. Corrupt personnel could take the harvested DNA from innocent people they wish to frame and “deposit” it at a crime scene where they wish to incriminate an innocent person! I have serious doubts about how reliable DNA Vacuuming technology will be as evidence in court trials when every defense lawyer can argue that it was easy to harvest their client’s DNA without their permission and then incriminate them falsely by scattering it around a crime scene they never were at (especially if they have a good alibi). Could individual DNA eventually be required on “Vaccine Passports” to determine one’s vaccine status? The third link did, after all, include “disease tracking” as a possible use for the DNA Vacuuming technology.

I’d like to suggest one positive way this technology could be used. I’m a bird-watcher and many bird watchers would love to know if there are any surviving Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers still living in remote swamps, forests, etc. in the USA. If DNA from this species could be harvested from preserved museum specimens, scientists could go to areas previously known to host these birds and DNA Vacuuming could be done to see if any such birds are still living in those remote areas. Indeed, this technology could be used to look for living samples of all very rare species to see if they are really extinct or still alive.

In the USA, this technology also would trigger Constitutional issues if it was ever used by governments against or upon people in any way. Could governments require that DNA samples be included in all drivers’ licenses and picture IDs? If everyone had to leave a DNA sample at a location where they voted, it would end the ability of dishonest people to vote multiple times in elections. If polling stations are digitally interlinked, a warning bell could be sounded if someone’s DNA is spotted at more than one polling site attempting to vote. Perhaps absentee ballots would require people voting in that way to include a DNA sample with their ballot to ensure there are no people voting multiple times. Since saliva contains DNA, perhaps voters and citizens in all walks of life can be traced via the simple act of licking a stamp or an adhesive strip of some kind.  Since this technology can be used invasively in many ways, I can foresee that there will be court cases to determine what DNA-harvesting methods are be be regarded as Constitutional and legal under the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution. That Amendment states that people have the right to be “secure in their persons” ,,,”against unreasonable searches and seizures.” The DNA shed by people is certainly part of their intrinsic “persons” and this amendment forbids searches and seizures without specific warrants that spell out what “places,” “persons,” or “things” can be searched for or seized. I can foresee courts issuing rulings that DNA searches for an individual can only take place upon evidence being presented to courts which justifies such searches or seizures. If anyone harvests the DNA of other people via DNA Vacuuming technology, they are unquestionably “searching” for someone and they are “seizing” parts of a person’s very own body by looking for residues of their saliva, skin and hair cells, and any other bodily fluids. I’d bet a whole new body of case law will develop to define which uses of DNA Vacuuming are Constitutional and which uses are not.

The Bible has a prophecy which may be related to this new technology. Revelation 13:16-18 foretells that the eventual “beast” power at the very end of our current age will be able to monitor all financial transactions on earth via some technology that involves each person’s hand or forehead. This kind of real-time monitoring around the globe could only occur in a world which has global digital technology which is connected via satellites in wireless connections. The age we now live in is the only one since this prophecy was given that the technology exists which allows this prophecy to be fulfilled literally. [Please see my article, Are We Living in the Biblical Latter Days?, for additional such evidence.] That any such invasive financial monitoring is desired or implemented by a human government shows it to be a “control-freak” type of government. Any government with that attribute and perspective would have no scruples about using DNA Vacuuming technology to monitor, track and control human beings in all kinds of ways.

George Orwell had no idea how prophetic his writings would be. The beast power prophesied by the Bible sure sounds “Orwellian” in nature to me.

 

  1. https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/scientists-are-vacuuming-animal-dna-out-of-the-air
  2. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/airborne-dna-can-reveal-earths-biodiversity/
  3. https://www.iflscience.com/human-dna-can-be-collected-from-air-firstofitskind-study-shows-59238