They placed a sample of each in a machine that shook them about, and focused a laser beam on each sample.

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This machine shatters tiny amounts of a sample into its component atoms, ionises those atoms in order to give them an electric charge, and then uses that charge to attract the atoms along a tube.

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By exposing the DNA sample to only one letter at the time, the machine can reconstruct the entire sequence.

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Anyone who sends a tweet to the machine while standing in front of it will receive a free sample of BOS Ice Tea, a popular organic beverage made in South Africa from Rooibos, an indigenous plant which locals have used to make traditional tea for hundreds of years.

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