The FBI's senior scientist, Dr. Thomas Callahan, will be discussing on Wednesday how the FBI plans to integrate Rapid DNA devices into its forensics investigations process. But Isenberg also says the FBI wants to expand how it uses DNA information (it collects two basic types today, nuclear and mitochrondrial, needed to identity the identity of an individual) in order to provide greater help to the intelligence community.

For instance, the FBI could provide information about genetic traits and ancestry if that were needed, but Isenberg acknowledges that privacy issues still have to be addressed. The FBI also plans to widen some of the technical analysis it does of DNA samples to identify slightly more detail related to DNA loci to eliminate any remote possibility of two individuals showing a match when a comparison is made.

The arrival of Rapid DNA devices raises lots of questions. For instance, will these devices be sold to anyone who wants one? "We're not selling them to terrorist states," says Jovanovich. But the company does intend to sell them to friendly nations and police stations, and possibly private sector companies. It's not inconceivable that a revolutionary technology like the Rapid DNA machines could lead to an individual's DNA data being used as a basis for biometric authentication in some way. Jovanovich recalls that once filed a patent a few years ago to do something like that. And in the future, the speed of Rapid DNA is going to get down to under the 90 minutes where it's at today, he adds. The U.S. appears to be leading in developing Rapid DNA, with no other countries known at this time to be doing it.

Ellen Messmer is senior editor at Network World, an IDG publication and website, where she covers news and technology trends related to information security. Twitter: @MessmerE. Email: emessmer@nww.com.

in Network World's Wide Area Network section.