China has developed the technology on trial to produce bar-coded identification cards containing the card holder's genetic information, Science & Technology Daily reported on Wednesday.
The Genetic Institute of the Henan Provincial People's Hospital in Zhengzhou, capital city of central China's Henan province, created a test ID card earlier this week for a Zhengzhou resident, according to the newspaper published by the Ministry of Sciences and Technology.
About the size of a traditional ID, the card is the first of its kind on the Chinese mainland.
The card carries 18 unique digital genetic codes selected from the DNA molecule chain of the holder. Experts say that there are 10 billion combination possibilities, making identification virtually foolproof.
The genetic information can be obtained from a drop of blood, a hair follicle or any tissue cell.
The card is still in trial stages and has yet to be recognized by the Chinese police in charge of issuing identification cards.
(People's Daily September 26, 2002)
