The science

Twenty three markers. Five dyes. One sequence that is only yours.

Short Tandem Repeat analysis reads 23 markers of your DNA, the same identity science trusted in British courts, and turns the result into a pattern of stones.

23 STR markers read
Over 25 years in genetic testing
Nothing clinical, ever

What is STR analysis?

A section of your DNA that repeats, a number of times that is yours.

STR stands for Short Tandem Repeat, a section of your DNA where a short sequence of base pairs repeats over and over. The number of times it repeats is unique to you, creating a pattern as individual as a fingerprint. It is the same analysis used for identity testing and legal paternity testing in the UK. We use it for one purpose, to generate your design.

We read identity markers only. Your health, your heritage, your predispositions: none of that is ever captured. Just the numerical pattern that makes you, you.

From profile to pattern

Five dye colours. Twenty three markers. One sequence.

Using capillary electrophoresis, a method that sorts DNA fragments by size as they move through a fine tube, the laboratory identifies the repeat count at each of your 23 STR markers, each read in one of five fluorescent dyes. Every marker becomes a stone in that dye's colour, placed along the strand by fragment size, so the last marker on every piece is Penta D, always in amethyst.

Lapis lazuli
Garnet
Citrine
Amethyst
Amazonite

The five stones

DNA profile · electropherogramFragment size →

Your profile, your order

What the reading becomes

The certificate is the instruction the jeweller follows.

Every piece arrives with its certificate on top of the box. It lists your 23 markers with the dye channel, the two values and the fragment sizes for each, then draws the strand with every position numbered, so you can run a finger along the real piece and find each stone on the page. The jeweller works from the same reading. What the certificate shows, line by line.

How DesigNA works

Your DNA is safe with us

Privacy by design, not by policy.

Your DNA and privacy

STR only: We extract only your STR profile, the identity numbers. No health, ancestry or predisposition data is ever read or stored.
Sample destroyed: Your physical sample is destroyed after profiling. We never retain, sell or share your raw genetic material.
UK GDPR and the Human Tissue Act: Genetic data is special category data. Explicit consent, secure storage, strict access.
Right to erasure: Request deletion of your STR profile data at any time by emailing sales@mydesigna.co.uk.

The science, animated

Watch a profile become a piece

Chromatogram peaks are read, each marker takes its position along the strand, and the spheres fill the spaces between. Built with the real production formula, not an artistic impression. Turn the sound on for the narration.

Macro of the DesigNA clasp, extender chain and stamped disc beside freshwater pearls

Precision you can hold

Data, then craft

Once your profile is read, the pattern passes to our partner jewellers in the UK’s famous Jewellery Quarter. Every spacer, sphere and stone is set by hand in the order your markers decide, then checked against your certificate before it ships.

How it works

Common questions

The science, answered

Why do you analyse STR markers rather than the whole genome?

We deliberately read only STR identity markers, never your whole genome. STR analysis reveals identity but nothing about your health, ancestry or medical conditions, privacy by design.

What exactly does the laboratory see in my DNA?

Your sample is handled by our laboratory partner, Complement Genomics, the genetic testing laboratory run by Oliver's parents in County Durham, with over 25 years in genetic testing. They extract your DNA and produce a profile from 23 autosomal markers, meaning markers on the chromosomes everyone carries two copies of, one from each parent. Identity markers only, never health, ancestry or any clinical information.

Is this the same science as a paternity or forensic test?

Yes. The same Short Tandem Repeat analysis used for identity testing. Your piece is decorative and carries no legal or evidential standing. The only difference is what we do with it, turning your identity markers into jewellery.

From data to design

Wear your own science.

A profile written nowhere else on earth, set in silver, pearl or gold.

Begin your piece How it works