Fighting crime with a mystical mist

ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands -When a McDonald's here was burglarized a few years ago, its managers decided they needed a new security system.

The police in this rough port city were offering an employee-activated device that sprays a fine, barely visible mist laced with synthetic DNA to cover anyone in its path, and simultaneously alerts the police to a crime in progress.

The mist -visible only under ultraviolet light -carries DNA markers particular to the location, enabling the police to match the burglar with the place burgled. Now, a sign on the McDonald's prominently warns: "You Steal, You're Marked."