About

Scumbag DNA or Scumbag Genetics is an image macro series derived from Scumbag Steve featuring an artist's rendering of a strand of human DNA. The captions typically juxtapose a genetic trait that is deemed beneficial (i.e. Brilliant mind) against another trait that contradicts the virtue of the first (i.e. "Here's some clinical depression to go along with it).

Origin

The first Scumbag DNA image macro with a yellow strand of DNA was posted to the Advice Animals subreddit^[1] on August 20th, 2011, although it only received one point and faded away. The series took off months later with another instance posted to Reddit^[4] on December 23rd, which received 7832 upvotes and 6409 downvotes. The base photo for the Quickmeme page was taken from the stock photo site WallpaperStock.^[2]

Spread

Beginning in October 2011, instances of the Scumbag DNA with different base pictures were shared on Reddit^[5] and FunnyJunk.^[6] The first instance made with the Quickmeme template, titled “Scumbag Genetics,” was not shared on Reddit^[7] until December 24th, 2011. It was reposted on FunnyJunk^[8] the next day with the title "Scumbag DNA." The next month, similar images began appearing on Tumblr under the hashtags Scumbag DNA^[12] and Scumbag Genetics.^[13] In February 2012, Scumbag DNA has appeared on humor sites 1mut^[9] and Memebase^[10] and news site The Inquisitr.^[14] Additionally, over 70 other instances have been shared on Reddit.^[11]

Notable Examples

External References