You won’t need to pass a genetics class to play one, but C.F. Martin & Co. is using DNA to ensure that customers are getting the real deal when purchasing a Martin guitar. After a wave of Chinese-manufactured counterfeit Martin guitars hit the market this year, C.F. Martin & Co. employed New York-based Applied DNA Sciences to “tag” each genuine instrument with a DNA signature. Eventually, C.F. Martin & Co. wants to offer customers the ability to check the validity of their own instruments, to ensure they haven’t been hoodwinked. Measures taken to stop counterfeiting have fallen upon deaf ears in China —  the country has done very little to stop the production of counterfeits over the years. Several months ago, C.F. Martin displayed the flaws of the counterfeit guitars to U.S. Senator Casey (D-PA), noting how easily the instrument can “collapse.” At the Martin Guitar Museum in Nazareth, PA, guitarists were asked to see if they could pick out the genuine Martin guitar from a set of two guitars, one real the other fake. Most had a hard time, but a few could spot the flaws. The design of the counterfeit guitars are stolen directly from Martin’s finest guitars, however the materials to build them are not. These fakes can sound and feel like a genuine for a short while, but they will eventually fall to pieces. Unlike other methods of determining authenticity, Applied DNA Sciences actually use real plant DNA with a particular sequence as a tag of authenticity. The DNA can be infused at any point of the guitar manufacturing, from the lacquer finish or the ink in the C.F. Martin Guitar Co. engraving. However, for now, customers should stick to the best way of purchasing a real Martin guitar: always use a authorized Martin dealer.