SGGPO
On July 24, in Hanoi, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) in collaboration with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), the Vietnam Institute of Biotechnology (IBT) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organized the first workshop to report on the progress of the program "Cooperation to improve capacity for identification of war remains".
 |
Expert of DNA Identification Center for Bone Identification |
At the workshop, Prof. Dr. Chu Hoang Ha, Vice President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, stated that identifying martyrs' remains is a priority task for many countries in the world, and Vietnam is no exception. In particular, the DNA identification method is considered the core, especially for remains lacking information and unable to be identified by empirical methods.
Therefore, in the period 2000-2003, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology researched techniques for separating DNA from skeletal remains and museum samples for the purpose of gene analysis.
The DNA identification results at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology are the scientific basis for the Government to decide to make DNA identification technology a scientific and reliable method for identifying the remains of unknown martyrs.
Professor Chu Hoang Ha said that in 2019, the DNA Identification Center under the Vietnam Institute of Biotechnology invested in upgrading its laboratory and is one of three key units assigned by the Government to analyze DNA to identify samples of martyrs' remains with missing information.
After 4 years of operation, the center has appraised more than 4,000 samples, of which nearly 80% had to be appraised more than once. As a result, more than 1,200 samples were successfully appraised and used to identify martyrs.
 |
Professor Chu Hoang Ha speaks at the conference |
However, the process of DNA identification of remains is a very difficult and challenging issue, so the program "Cooperation to improve the capacity of identification of war remains" has special significance, helping Vietnam to both close the social problems from the past and look towards the future by receiving advanced knowledge and equipment.
Since the beginning of 2023, through the above program, ICMP has cooperated with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology to develop and optimize new DNA analysis technologies.
Up to now, these new technologies have initially brought positive results and are the basis for USAID, through ICMP, to support the DNA Identification Center with equipment and materials for testing new generation DNA technology, helping to master, improve efficiency and perfect this new method for identifying martyrs' remains in Vietnam.
 |
Delegates attending the conference took a souvenir photo |
Ms. Kathryne Bomberher, Director of ICMP, said that searching for missing people in war is very important to countries, thereby contributing to healing peace and gradually erasing the wounds of war.
In recent times, Vietnam has made many efforts to search for missing people in the war using advanced technology. However, with hundreds of thousands of martyrs still unidentified, ICMP will continue to make efforts to support Vietnam with modern equipment and technology to make the search and identification of missing people's remains more effective.
According to Mr. Le Cong Tien, Director of the Vietnam Agency for Searching for Missing Persons, although the war ended more than 50 years ago, the consequences that the Vietnamese people are still suffering are still very severe.
Currently, Vietnam still has 200,000 martyrs whose remains have not been collected, 300,000 martyrs whose information has not been found; 3 million Vietnamese people continue to face the consequences of Agent Orange and hundreds of thousands of hectares of land have been abandoned.
Over the years, the United States has made efforts to support Vietnam in overcoming some of the above consequences, in which cooperation in improving the capacity to identify the remains of Vietnamese martyrs is a meaningful humanitarian activity. "This program contributes to easing the wounds of war, helping the remains of martyrs who died for the Fatherland to be reunited with their families," said Mr. Le Cong Tien.
Source
Comment (0)