ASIA'S FIRST HUMAN DNA BANK IN CITY OF NAWABS BY Abhinav Pandey

Asia's first human DNA bank in City of Nawabs


Lucknow, Jun 15 (PTI) Be it a terrorist attack, mass
tragedy or police verification, this bank can be of great use
for security agencies and doctors.

Combining Biometric, anthropology and information
technology together, Asia's first human D.N.A. Bank has been
setup in Biotech Park of the state capital.

The unique bank stores all information of a person
including fingerprints and other vital details collected from
four drops of blood in a sim card which is transferred to a
smart card to be read through special readers.

"The information will be stored in the bank for 50
years and is of great help in ascertaining identity of a
person and providing medical aid to them," Chief Executive
Officer, Biotech Park, P.K. Seth told P.T.I.

"This is Asia's first and world's second bank having
D.N.A. identification system (D.I.S.) and has been established
in the Biotech park under the public private partnership with
I.Q.R.A. Biotech Services", Seth said, adding that Federal
Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) is so far the only agency
that could boast of a D.N.A. bank.

Citing major uses of the card, he said that it could
provide details about an unconscious person during an
accident, identify bodies during mass tragedy and help
tracking lost children besides it can also be used at
important establishments such as airport, immigration counters
and high risk zones.

The card will have general information,
anthropological and medical information, biometrics D.N.A. and
fingerprint- details of a person and some very rare personal
and confidential information will also be stored in it, Seth
said.

Realising the utility of the bank, governments of
Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Tamil Nadu have shown keen
interest in the project and expressed their desire to
establish such a bank in their state, an official of the firm
said.

After serial blasts in Jaipur, Rajasthan government
wants to prepare DNA bank and prepare smart cards for Chief
Minister Vasundhara Raje's office, secretariat and District
Magistrate officer for security reasons, he said.

Similarly, Tamil Nadu government has asked Family and
Social Welfare department to check viability of the project
while Jammu and Kashmir government is also keen to start the
bank soon, the official claimed.

The bank is offering membership to interested persons
at Rs 640 only for 50 years in Lucknow.

Once someone becomes member of the bank, he will get a
microchip based D.N.A. card containing his vital information.

With the help of this card, all information about a
person will be accessible on the click of a mouse.