The DNA of a loved one can be preserved in a tattoo, the New York Times reports. And no, it doesn't mean a tattoo of a picture of that person's genetic sequence, but a tattoo whose ink contains that person's DNA.
Endeavor Life Sciences' Patrick Duffy came up with a product he's dubbed Everence, a powdery substance containing DNA that can be added to tattoo ink, the Times says. Customers send their DNA samples they want to use to the company's lab where it suspends the sample in microscopic bits of Plexiglas, which the Times notes prevents the sample from being absorbed by the body after tattooing. It adds that DNA could come from a cheek swab or ashes of a spouse, family member, friend, or even a pet.
"It's not meant to deliver a drug, and it's not meant to augment the body," Duffy tells the Times, which notes that he himself has a tattoo of birds that contains Everence from his daughter's DNA. "It's about the emotion."