The Rediff Special/Venu Menon

A peep into the ambitious DNA project

DNA testing, a fool-proof means of establishing paternity, was first employed by the Andhra Pradesh police some years ago.

The Kerala government's initiative involves taking a 10-ml blood sample from each adult and 2 to 5 ml from each child involved. The samples must be collected in the presence of court authorities, and sent under certification to the Center for DNA, Finger Printing and Diagnostics in Hyderabad.

The samples are dispatched in sterile vials along with anticoagulants.

The results, according to Kerala's Women's Commission members, take around three to four months to arrive.

DNA testing is decisive chiefly because no two DNA samples are alike. For duplication to occur, the world's population must cross 40 billion. The global population at present is 5.76 billion.

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