X-Message-Number: 10869 Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 09:54:46 -0800 (PST) From: Doug Skrecky <> Subject: and for $349.95 we'll preserve grandpa's dna From the December 1,1998 edition of the National Post newspaper By Drew Hasselback Unless you're O.J. Simpson or Bill Clinton, chances are no one is going to take a sample of your DNA before you die. Unless, that is, you employ the services of DNA Analysis Inc. of Cincinnati. The company has teamed up with area funeral directors to pitch a DNA collection and storage service to relatives of the newly departed. For $349.95 (US), a funeral director will collect hair, blood and saliva samples from a body. The samples will be sent to DNA Analysis, which will store them at minus-80 Fahrenheit for 25 years. Funeral directors will recieve a finder's fee of about $50 (US). The rest goes to DNA Analysis. Terry Travis of Riddle Funeral Home in Vermilion, Ohio, said this genetic fingerprint could prove useful if someone needed to know whether they were at risk for heredity or genetic diseases. Mr. Travis said his family-owned funeral home mentioned the new service in an ad in a local newspaper. He has not sold any loved ones on the service yet, perhaps because he has had no funeral clients since the ad ran. "I've certainly heard of nothing like this here in Canada," said Laura Hamilton, spokeswomen for the Ontario Funeral Service Association. "It'll be certainly interesting to see if this is something consumers respond to." Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=10869