In previous public presentations and in this blog, I have borrowed the concept of pre-adaptation from evolutionary biology to describe the role of printing in security. In the next few blogs I will borrow much more extensively from the concepts and terms in evolutionary biology. Evolution and security, I will argue, have a lot in common. Both accept the fact that change is inevitable, not always predictable, and if used properly a systemic advantage.

To set the agenda, I had the pleasure to re-read many of my Stephen J. Gould and Richard Fortey books. Two gentlemen who really knew/know how to write science essays. And, their great essays and chapters have the set the agenda for the next five blogs:

1. Pre-adaptation

2. Co-evolution

3. Mimicry (including Batesian mimicry) and convergent evolution

4. Survival of the fittest, modification, teleology, progress and complexity

5. Punctuated equilibrium

Today’s blog explores pre-adaptation more indepthly. Pre-adaptation, also known as exaptation or “co-option”, is an instance in which a pre-existing anatomical structure eventually finds utility for a different purpose. A classic example is the pre-adaptation of sweat glands for use as lactating glands in mammals. Milk flow derived from earlier perspiration flow. Perspiration had utility, of course, in heat regulation (and possibly in the attraction of mates—deodorant was rare in the Triassic), and over time the survival advantage offered by the nursing of offspring selected for more and more productive sweat-as-mammary glands.

The other classic example is the pre-adaptation of feathers for wings. Feathers were originally selected for based on their utility in thermal regulation. Over time, presumably a cooling one, longer and more full feathers were selected for, and eventually some small feathered animal (such as the archaeopteryx, the fabled half-dino/half-bird) started seeing the structure and utility of its feathers no longer being selected solely for thermoregulation, but rather for the survival advantage of gliding and eventually flight.

We come to printing and security. How is printing pre-adapted to security? Printing is usually selected for, by the brand owner (detergent company, ticket salesperson, marketer, etc.), for its purpose in helping the customer identify the brand, obtain product information, or purchase the item (think about that bar code scanned at the cash register). In other words, printing has a large set of valuable roles already. Some brand owners select products based on the vividness of the printing, image quality, or layout of the printing. Others are simply looking for the printing of a trusted brand. Regardless, the printing already provides value.

Printing can also be used for security. With the use of security variable data printing, or SVDP, every package, label, ticket or other printed item can contain a unique set of embedded information—bits added to the variable region. So, for example, a 2D data matrix bar code may hold dozens of bits of information; a watermarked image may hold another few dozens of bits; and a variable line of text may contain a few dozen more. This type of “printing variability” illustrates how printing is pre-adapted to overt and covert security. So, VDP, originally selected for due to its powerful means of customizing printing, is pre-adapted to multiple roles of security.

Another aspect of printing is loosely pre-adapted to use in security. This exaptation is the parasitics that form when printing occurs. Parasitics are variations caused by the process of depositing ink on a substrate. For inkjet ink on office paper, as an example, the fibers in the paper will differentially wick the ink in the direction of the fibers. This “random” pattern of ink on the paper can be used as a difficult (if not impossible) to reproduce forensic mark.

Thus, printing can be used to provide all three types of security features—overt, covert and forensic. Not sure if it will be as useful in thermal regulation, but many a printed item, if folded properly (see http://paperairplanes.net/), is indeed pre-adapted to flight!

Cheers,

Steve