Vietnamese people will have DNA tags

For the first time in Vietnam, "DNA identity" plates have been created. Looking at the cards of two people, we can see if they are related by blood.

There have been 500 such cards issued by DNA Analysis and Genetic Technology Center (headquartered in Room 108, Building E3, Vinh Phuc District, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi) at the request of those who want to identify lineage. Professor Le Dinh Luong, General Secretary of the Genetic Society, founder of the center, said the most recent case was a European expert who married Vietnamese wife and had three sons. Suspicious because he did not look like him, he took samples of the cells of four children and brought them to the center for testing. The results showed that all three boys are children of two different men, and are not experts on the expert.

The DNA identity card also helps relieve doubts for many men to reassure them that the child they are raising is the blood of their own, as is the case in Ho Chi Minh City. After 10 years he cured infertility, when the hope was gone, his wife became pregnant. Before he was happy with the birth of his son, he received continuous phone calls saying the baby was the "work" of others. To escape the torment, he went to Hanoi. Holding his two DNA identification cards and the baby, he was happy to breathe that he knew that he was indeed a father.

(Photo: Corbis.com)

Professor Luong said that DNA identification is a technology that has been widely used in the world. It was a card that printed images of individual DNA decoding, which looked like a graph. 8 billion people in the world no one has the same DNA code, so this card is like a bio identity card to help identify individuals. Looking at the cards of any two people, we know whether they are related by blood (for example, if they are father and son, in the 32 vertices of the above "graph" section, there must be at least 16 identical vertices). Meanwhile, with normal DNA test results, you only know the relationship of the owner of the two specific samples sent.

To create a DNA ID, simply bring your ID card to the DNA Analysis Center and the genetic technology to register. Experts will take blood samples from the fingertips (only about 1/3 drops) and samples of cells in the mouth (using cotton swab to wipe the inside of the cheek). Results are as early as 2 days. The price to make DNA identification is 3 million. According to Professor Luong, in the future, the cost will be much lower because the cost of DNA sequencing technology tends to decrease very quickly. The current price has decreased by 180 times compared to the first time, and in the next few years it can be reduced thousands of times.

In the near future, the Center will also develop a personal DNA card to diagnose the 10 most probable genetic diseases. Due to genetic characteristics, this person is more susceptible to certain diseases than the other, and less at risk for some other diseases. The "review" of the genome helps each individual know what his greatest risk of illness is. Accompanying a 10-disease diagnostic card, experts also provide advice on measures to curb the risk.

It is expected that the cost of setting up a DNA card to diagnose 10 genetic diseases is 1,000 USD.