Humble DNA Could Help Decipher Dark Matter

Humble DNA Could Help Decipher Dark Matter

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A few strands of DNA could help solve the mystery of dark matter. A newly proposed detector aims to use DNA to resolve the conflicting claims from current dark matter detectors. Dark matter is thought to make up about 85% of the matter in the universe. The prime suspects are so-called weakly interacting massive particles, which are immune to the electromagnetic and strong nuclear forces. In theory, WIMPs interact with normal matter only via gravity and the weak nuclear force.

Attempts to detect WIMPs on Earth have provided conflicting results. Now Andrzej Drukier of the biotech firm Biotraces and a group of cosmologists and biochemists are suggesting that DNA could help break the impasse.