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DNA tech means remains of AI crash victims will reach their kin. It has also changed the world
When Garuda Airways flight 152 crashed on Sept 26, 1997, many of the 234 fliers were mutilated beyond recognition. Eventually, 48 were interred in a mass grave. Thanks to advancements in DNA matching since then, kin of the Air India crash victims have been spared this pain. At least 135 of the 270 victims – many of them completely charred – have already been identified. Officials hope to complete the task by Wednesday.
It's a measure of technology's march since scientist Alec Jeffreys found the first genetic fingerprint on Sept 10, 1984. He didn't discover DNA – that honour goes to Swiss scientist Friedrich Miescher, who made the discovery in 1869, the year Mahatma Gandhi was born. But then, not much happened for the next 115 years. Yes, Watson and Crick figured out DNA's structure and won a Nobel in 1962, but DNA didn't have practical uses until Jeffreys' eureka moment. Within a year, he had helped a boy get British citizenship by establishing a DNA link between him and his parents. The year after, he helped nail the culprit in a double rape and murder case. US caught on in 1986, and by 2013 its Department of Justice was collecting and analysing DNA samples for $40 a pop.
Now, you can order a DNA paternity test online. Sequencing machines have become tiny – the smallest ones weigh less than a smartphone and cost around $3,000. US troops used one to identify IS leader Baghdadi on their chopper in 2019. Meanwhile, over 40mn people have given DNA samples to private firms to trace their ancestry. In recent weeks, DNA has revealed mix-ups that happened in hospitals in 1940s when newborns weren't tagged. It's solved decades-old crimes, and freed innocents who lost their youth in jail. It's a gift that keeps on giving.
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This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
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