Cell Phone Lets Your Secrets Out
Your cell phone holds secrets about you. Besides the names and numbers that you"ve programmed into it,
1
of your DNA linger (遗留) on the device, according to a new study.
DNA is genetic (遗传的) material
2
appears in every cell. Like your fingerprint, your DNA is
3
to you—unless you have an identical twin. Scientists today analyze DNA in blood, saliva (唾液), or hair left
4
at the scene of a crime. The results often help detectives identify
5
and their victims. Your cell phone can reveal more about you
6
you might think.
Meghan J. McFadden, a scientist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, heard about a crime in which the suspect bled onto a cell phone and later dropped the
7
. This made her wonder whether traces of DNA lingered on cell phones—even when no blood was
8
. She and colleague Margaret Wallace of the City University of New York analyzed the flip-open phones (翻盖手机) of 10 volunteers. They used swabs (药签) to collect
9
traces of the users from two parts of the phone: the outside, where the user
10
it, and the speaker, which is placed at the user"s ear.
The scientists cleaned the phones using a solution made mostly
11
alcohol. The aim of washing was to remove all detectable traces of DNA. The owners got their phones back for another week. Then the researchers
12
the phones and cleaned each phone once more.
The scientists discovered DNA that
13
to the phone"s speaker on each of the phones. Better samples were collected from the outside of each phone, but those swabs also picked up DNA that belonged to other people who had apparently also
14
the phone.
Surprisingly, DNA showed up even in swabs that were taken immediately after the phones were scrubbed. That suggests that washing won"t remove all traces of
15
from a criminal"s device. So cell phones can now be added to the list of clues that can clinch (确定) a crime-scene investigation.