The Criminal Science Institute (CSI), a division of the Ministry of Public Security, March 23 inaugurated the Gene Analysis Office inside the Criminal Science Sub-Institute in Ho Chi Minh City.
The country launched its first gene analysis unit, also run by the CSI, in Hanoi in 1999.
The HCMC-based office is equipped with modern facilities including gene-mapping equipment, an automated gene amplification system, and a biological safety cabinet.
The newly opened unit is expected to help address the high demand for gene analysis in Vietnam and also help police by providing ADN analysis.
ADN profiling is a technique used by forensic scientists to identify individuals based on their individual ADN profiles. The technique employs molecular biology, which chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between ADN, RNA and protein biosynthesis as well as how these interactions are regulated.
Every year, the CSI completes about 700 gene analysis works, of which 40 percent are from southern provinces. Around 3,000 specimens are analyzed from criminal cases, civil cases, and to identify accident victims and blood relations.
In the future, the Sub-institute will join a project to collect, preserve and analyze genes in order to create a national criminal ADN database.
