Help is on hand for separated family members - a gene center is
providing a one-off sample collection from blood and hair, and
storing the information in a database to help them reunite.
"We offer a convenient and cost-efficient way to help restore
contact among separated family members," said Yu Xiaoguang, a
division director at the center of forensic sciences of Beijing
Genomics Institute affiliated to the Chinese Academy of
Sciences.
Established in May, the database compares pairs of samples to
prove possible consanguinity, or blood ties. "State-of-the-art
technology and equipment make the possibility of a wrong conclusion
nil," Yu said.
It is estimated that about 500,000 in China have lost contact
with their family members because of natural disasters, wars or
political turmoil, Yu told China Daily.
He cited the example of Guanlin Township, of Yixing in East
China's Jiangsu Province.
From 1958 to 1961, the country witnessed widespread famine as a
result of devastating economic policies during the Great Leap
Forward movement.
To help their babies survive, about 100,00 families in Guanlin
gave them to people in the central and western parts of the
country, where the economic situation was better.
"Now, nearly 50 years have passed, and the abandoned babies are
now in their 50s. They are eagerly trying to reestablish connection
with their natural parents or siblings," Yu said.
Many have spent years searching, exhausting their financial
resources and undergoing emotional ups and downs only to find that
their beloved ones still beyond reach.
Lu Shunfang, a Guanlin native in her 60s, has been looking for
her lost younger sister for years in vain.
"My footsteps have covered more than half of the country. I am
getting old and exhausted," Lu was quoted by the Beijing Morning
Post as saying. "What I can do now is only wait."
She gave her DNA sample to the institute's database in May.
Experts said such a database has to have at least 10,000
individual samples to make any successful gene comparison feasible.
To date, not a single successful match has been made in the
database, which has only about 400 samples, Yu said.
"We'll gather more samples for the database," Yu said. "It's a
goodwill, non-profit business."
He said that a minimum of 20 million yuan (US$2.63 million) is
needed to have all the samples of the 500,000 who are separated
from their families.
(China Daily July 20, 2007)