A genome research lab in Beijing will soon receive a fourth
batch of samples of tsunami victims from Thailand for DNA
identification.
"We have done very well with the previous three batches. I
believe that's why they've asked us to take more," said Deng Yajun,
director of the judicial evidence ascertainment center, Beijing
Genomics Institute.
Deng said the institute has identified 1,060 DNA samples of
tsunami victims entrusted to it by Thailand. It succeeded in
extracting DNA profiles from 84.7 percent of the bone samples and
more than 80 percent of the tooth samples.
"Of the seven labs in the world that have undertaken the
identification of DNA samples of tsunami victims, my team has
received the biggest number of samples, submitted the most
information and achieved the highest success rates," she said.
According to Deng, her peers used the labor-intensive
Mitochondria method as well as conventional methods in the
identification process. The Mitochondria method has proved very
effective in the samples from tsunami victims, which had low DNA
content because of exposure to seawater and high temperatures,
compared with other methods.
The Beijing lab, a unit under the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
carried out the work free-of-charge.
This is in accordance with an agreement reached between China
and Thailand.
The death toll of the deadly tsunami that hit South East Asia
last December has exceeded 292,000. According to official Thai
statistics, a total 5,395 people were killed in the tsunami in
Thailand, 1,953 of whom were foreigners and the others Thai.
Some 2,929 corpses have yet to be found.?
(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn June 10, 2005)