DNA Dog Tag or Genetic ID?

The Army's new identification program sends a big-brotherly chill

METAL DOG TAGS BEARING A SOLDIER'S NAME, RANK and serial number for identification date to the early part of the century, when battles were still being fought with bullets and bayonets. But combatants in today's wars are not just killed, they are sometimes obliterated, dog tags and all. So last week the Army began collecting blood and tissue samples from new recruits, part of an ambitious "genetic dog tag" program that will eventually enable pathologists to identify the smallest tissue specimens by cross-matching to genetic samples stored on file. The Pentagon aims to collect specimens from all 2 million active service...

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