KARACHI: The first-ever deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) laboratory in Sindh is set to be inaugurated on Thursday by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and the lab will help the provincial police and health authorities get the DNA tests done especially during emergency situations, officials said on Wednesday.

The forensic, toxicology and molecular biology lab for DNA test was established at the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS) Jamshoro with the financial assistance of the Sindh government, the officials said.

They said the chief minister would inaugurate the lab formally at CM House on Thursday.

They added that the health department notified and authorised the lab on March 31 and it would be the first-ever lab at the LUMHS and in the province, which would help law enforcing agencies and the community in identification in cases of unidentified bodies, sexual assault convicts, paternity disputes and missing persons.

They added that like the fingerprints that came into use by detectives and police labs in 1930s, each person has a unique DNA fingerprint. Unlike the fingerprint at the fingertips that can be altered by surgery, a DNA fingerprint is same in every cell, tissue and organ of a person and it cannot be altered by any known treatment.

Consequently, said the officials, the DNA fingerprinting was rapidly becoming the primary method of identifying and distinguishing among individual human beings.

“Every living thing has a DNA,” said a health department official.

“Our lab can help in investigation by using biological specimen for forensic DNA typing. Biological specimens include blood, semen, saliva, urine, hair, teeth, bone and tissue,” he added.

The provincial government expedited its plans to establish the lab after a series of incidents in which dozens of bodies were burnt requiring DNA testing for their handover to correct relatives.

Before this lab, Sindh and other provinces would send their reports to Islamabad for testing and waited for more than a month to get results. The officials said, now the time of results would reduce to 15 days or even less.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2015

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