Anyone who reads this site regularly knows that fast food restaurants are prime targets for the criminal element. Now McDonald’s eateries in the Dutch city of Rotterdam are using a new-fangled way to fight crime — spraying crooks with a so-called artificial DNA that can be used by authorities to identify them.

As hamburglars make their way out of the restaurant, they are sprayed with a fine mist, almost identical to human DNA, from a wall-mounted box. The spray contains specific markers that help police to link the criminal to the crime.

According to local police, in addition to assisting them in identifying the suspect, the mere existence of the DNA spray has cut down on robberies because possible perps think twice when they hear they’ll be coated with a fine mist of the stuff.

“The whole thing is prevention, not about recovering stolen goods or capturing criminals,” said a rep for the company behind the DNA spray. “The material is identical to human DNA, though there is a different sequence of components.”

Unfortunately, there have been several incidents of accidental spraying both at McDonald’s and at other businesses using the spray. So let’s hope they get these bugs sorted out before anyone gets the idea of employing this deterrent stateside.

McDonalds tracks burglars by spraying them with ‘artificial DNA’ as they make their getaway [Daily Mail]

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