October 12, 2009 12:38 PM PDT

iPhone wallpaper makes your DNA imprint mobile

by Leslie Katz
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iPhone DNA wallpaper (Credit: Helys)

For some time, it's been possible to display artwork of your DNA. It's contemporary-looking and convenient, too--when guests compliment your living room decor, you can just point to the canvas above the couch and say, "Now that you mention it, that's the genetic material responsible for my interior decorating brilliance!"

Well, now you can flash your chromosone sequence to strangers on the subway as well. In addition to offering portraits of DNA (and fingerprints), French company Helys is creating customized iPhone wallpapers featuring DNA imprints.

To order the wallpaper, you choose a preferred hue for your genetic material and receive a mouth-swabbing kit for collecting a DNA sample. After you send some cells back, the company creates a 100 dpi image of your DNA and sends the picture along via e-mail a couple of weeks later. It's a more individualized iPhone background than that AT&T logo, to be sure, though it'll cost you--a whopping $146.

Leslie Katz, senior editor of CNET's Crave, covers gadgets, games, and most other digital distractions. As a co-host of the CNET News Daily Podcast, she sometimes tries to channel Terry Gross. E-mail Leslie.
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by livingaudio October 13, 2009 4:24 AM PDT
146! wow, i will admit this is pretty tempting and a great conversation stealer/starter. Perhaps this just some plot to collect DNA from every iphone user on the planet! gasp! ;-)
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by DNA11 October 13, 2009 8:40 AM PDT
If you want to see the North American company these French guys are trying to copy check out http://www.dna11.com Cnet wrote about us 4 years ago. Way to innovate guys! LOL.
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