The Troubling Rise of Rapid DNA Testing

Your DNA can now be read in less time than it would take to wait at a typical DMV. Unlike traditional DNA testing, which takes at least two days and requires processing at a laboratory, new and portable rapid DNA devices can give quick results anywhere in under two hours, since agents simply insert a “tagged” cheek swab into the microwave-sized machine.

The Department of Homeland Security plans to begin using the automated technology later this year to vet the identity and kinship claims of refugees and immigrants. Meanwhile, police departments across the country—from Palm Bay, Florida, to Tucson, Arizona—have rolled out their own pilot programs to test these miniature DNA labs. In December, results from a rapid DNA device were submitted as evidence in a successful murder prosecution for the first time. But despite the technology’s full functionality, its uses have been limited.

A new law could change that. A bill before Congress, introduced in December by Sen. Orin Hatch, R-Utah, would allow profiles collected by rapid DNA devices in the field to be connected...