|
Cell Phone Lets Your Secret out Your cell phone holds secrets about you. Besides the names and 51 that youve programmed into it, traces of your DNA linger on the device, according to a new study. DNA is genetic material that 52 in every cell. Like your fingerprint, your DNA is unique to you- 53 you have an identical twin. Scientists today routinely analyze DNA in blood, saliva, or hair left 54 at the scene of a crime. The results often help detectives identify 55 and their victims. Your cell phone can reveal more about you 56 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 57 This made her wonder whether traces of DNA lingered on cell phones-even when no blood was involved. 58 she and colleague Margaret Wallace of the City University of New York analyzed the flip-open phones of 10 volunteers. They used swabs to collect 59 traces of the users from two parts of the phone: the outside, where the user holds it, and the 60, which is placed at the users ear. The scientists scrubbed the phones using a solution made mostly 61 alcohol. The aim of washing was to remove all detectable traces of DNA. The owners got, Heir phones 62 for another week. Then the researchers collected the phones and repeated the swabbing of each phone once more. | 
