House of Representatives NASA Bill Commends Proactive Use of DNA Authentication STONY BROOK, NY, June 13, 2014. Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. (OTCQB: APDN), (Twitter: @APDN), a biotechnology firm that provides DNA-based authentication and security solutions and services, announced today that use of DNA authentication technology has been commended by the US House of Representatives in the funding bill for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), passed by the House, then published on June 12, 2014. The NASA Authorization Act of 2014 (H.R. 4412) follows the path first dictated for the Department of Defense in its 2012 funding bill, requiring suppliers to bring online anti-counterfeiting systems. Clauses in the NASA bill follow closely the intent of the anti-counterfeiting language in Section 818 of the Defense Department funding law, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012. Like the Defense Department Bill, suppliers are liable for costs of rework and remediation if it is found that they supplied counterfeit parts to the Agency. In one section of the bill, the House commends NASA, saying “The Committee…is encouraged by NASA’s proactive efforts to mitigate counterfeit electronic part intrusion into the supply chain, including efforts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to utilize deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) authentication marking on items which have been determined to be at high risk for counterfeiting.” As announced publicly in this space on May 9, NASA’s JPL, has received training by APDN on DNA authentication as part of its effort to assess the latest ideas and technologies related to counterfeit risk mitigation. It is the second recent instance of an explicit mention by Congress citing DNA marking as an example of ongoing anti-counterfeiting technology. In May, the House called on the Department Of Defense to report on its anti-counterfeiting efforts, including DNA marking by the Defense Logistics Agency. The Senate version of the NASA Authorization Act differs from that passed by the House. The versions will be reconciled later this year. APDN company officials pointed out that the spread of strict anti-counterfeiting legislation to NASA can only add to the growing impetus to protect the supply chain against the counterfeit crisis, and underlined the urgency of the adoption of anti-counterfeiting solutions. Dr. James A. Hayward, President and CEO of Applied DNA Sciences, stated: “We are encouraged by the steady reference to DNA marking by our federal legislators and within federal agencies. This is truly a technology with the power to protect American assets and American lives.”
