New York: DNA Stops Counterfeit Cotton

New Products and Innovation

New York: DNA Stops Counterfeit Cotton

Researchers at City, State-based Applied DNA Sciences are using artificial DNA to tag individual cotton fibers with gene sequences that identify specific suppliers and can’t be duplicated.

The DNA tag is added to the cotton during the ginning process that is when the seeds are removed and before it gets turned into thread. A machine douses the cotton with a solution containing a unique sequence of DNA molecule derived from plants. While DNA is usually inside living cells, it can also exist in solutions and doesn’t fade or degrade quickly, even after the solution dries.

Applied DNA Sciences CEO James Hayward told that the DNA can’t be removed, even by bleaching, because the DNA-laced solution is absorbed by individual fibers. The DNA even survives getting made into clothing.

Supima, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based non-profit that certifies genuine Pima cotton, a long-fiber variety used by clothing brands such as Brooks Brothers and Land’s End, is promoting the technology among clothiers to make sure that suppliers are really shipping PIma cotton. In the U.K., the Textile Centre of Excellence has been partnering with wool and cotton mills in that country to test their supplies as well.

As an added bonus, it means there’s a way for clothiers to check if those shirts the guy on the corner is selling are cheap knock-offs. Authorities could use the same technique on a pile of shirts and see if they really are the brand they say they are. This is an extension of the technology to textiles, but Hayward noted that it can be applied to almost any material.