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People hoping to remember deceased loved ones with something more permanent than a lock of hair or faded photo can now have a piece of their DNA saved in a pendant being offered by a Japanese company.
Eiwa Industry Co., a small metalworking company, this month began selling pendants for preserving genetic mementos of deceased people, general manager Morihito Ikai said Friday.
The company -- which mainly manufactures decorative metal fixtures for houses -- entered the DNA pendant business last August with a line of products for saving the DNA of deceased pets, Ikai said.
"As a small company, we need to always be thinking about products that play off of our basic technologies and abilities," Ikai said.
Soon after word got out about Eiwa's new offering, the company started receiving requests for similar pendants to save a bit of human DNA, Ikai said.
"Bereaved parents would contact us and say, 'If you can save a piece of a dog or cat's DNA, why not some of my daughter's?"' he said.
The human DNA pendants come in basic two shapes. One resembles a rounded-perfume bottle. The other is shaped like a stylized human face, cut in such a way that it can fit together with a second pendant of the same shape -- "for couples," Ikai said.
Made of silver, the pendants cost 50,000 yen (US$428), which includes the cost of the pendant, a chain and the charge for extracting DNA. The DNA is usually taken from a strand of hair or piece of fingernail, Ikai said. The genetic material is then placed in a crystal, which in turn is enclosed in the pendant.
While the perceived permanence of a DNA sample relative to hair is one of the product's attractions, Ikai said some customers also seem to be hoping to hold on to genetic material in case it becomes technologically possible to clone human beings in the future.
"Other companies also offer DNA pendants for pets," he said. "We think these products might be unique."
The company is based in Inazawa in Aichi prefecture (state), about 280 kilometers (175 miles) west of Tokyo.
Eiwa Industry Co., a small metalworking company, this month began selling pendants for preserving genetic mementos of deceased people, general manager Morihito Ikai said Friday.
The company -- which mainly manufactures decorative metal fixtures for houses -- entered the DNA pendant business last August with a line of products for saving the DNA of deceased pets, Ikai said.
"As a small company, we need to always be thinking about products that play off of our basic technologies and abilities," Ikai said.
Soon after word got out about Eiwa's new offering, the company started receiving requests for similar pendants to save a bit of human DNA, Ikai said.
"Bereaved parents would contact us and say, 'If you can save a piece of a dog or cat's DNA, why not some of my daughter's?"' he said.
The human DNA pendants come in basic two shapes. One resembles a rounded-perfume bottle. The other is shaped like a stylized human face, cut in such a way that it can fit together with a second pendant of the same shape -- "for couples," Ikai said.
Made of silver, the pendants cost 50,000 yen (US$428), which includes the cost of the pendant, a chain and the charge for extracting DNA. The DNA is usually taken from a strand of hair or piece of fingernail, Ikai said. The genetic material is then placed in a crystal, which in turn is enclosed in the pendant.
While the perceived permanence of a DNA sample relative to hair is one of the product's attractions, Ikai said some customers also seem to be hoping to hold on to genetic material in case it becomes technologically possible to clone human beings in the future.
"Other companies also offer DNA pendants for pets," he said. "We think these products might be unique."
The company is based in Inazawa in Aichi prefecture (state), about 280 kilometers (175 miles) west of Tokyo.
eh..sounds bit creepy to carry around..yeah
