Bangalore gets hi-tech DNA lab

Amit S Upadhye / TNN / Nov 2, 2007, 02:11 IST

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Believe it or not, 80 per cent of private cases that land up at the DNA laboratory in Hyderabad are disputes over paternity of the child, filed mostly by fathers.

BANGALORE: Believe it or not, 80 per cent of private cases that land up at the DNA laboratory in Hyderabad are disputes over paternity of the child, filed mostly by fathers. And most of the cases are proved to be false and based on suspicion.
Now, even Bangalore has its own DNA laboratory and analysts and scientists are gearing up to handle such cases.The lab has been opened by the forensic sciences department.
The parent DNA fingerprinting and diagnostic centre in Hyderabad is an independent body constituted under the ministry of bio-technology.
The Centre for Cellular and Molecular biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, which use to handle such cases, is forwarding them to the DNA laboratory.

"We have private clients coming to Hyderabad from Kerala and even Punjab. With the new DNA laboratory in Bangalore, private cases from the southern states can be referred to Bangalore," CCMB director Lalji Singh told TOI.
Disputes over paternity have been on the rise, specially in metros like Delhi and Mumbai, he noted.
"Keeping ethical issues in mind, we have regularised paternity tests by penning down certain dos and don’ts. Earlier, DNA tests use to be done, sometimes without the person’s knowledge. For instance, a husband suspecting his wife’s fidelity would get some of his wife’s hair and request us for a DNA test. However, we did not take up that case since his wife was unaware of the test being conducted on her," Dr Singh explained.
The rules are very clear that the couple has to be physically present and permission of both is mandatory, he added.
amit.upadhye@timesgroup.com

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