Guangzhou e-birth certificates to include DNA info

Guangzhou in Guangdong province started issuing official electronic copies of birth certificates via WeChat on June 5 and recently the southern Chinese city announced plans to add DNA information to the digital certificate.

According to reports from Guangzhou Daily, the first electronic certificate with genetic information which is "only one of its kind" will be released before the end of this year after its prototype system project was formally launched on June 9.

The special e-certificate will be used for cracking down child abduction, identity authentication for judicial procedures, medical matching and paternity identification.

According to Fan Yanjun, deputy director of National Center for Women and Children's Health that leads the project, the information to be added to the digital birth certificates include new–born baby's blood types and DNA information. Special DNA testing technology will be applied to encode each newborn's genetic information and turn it into biological labels which will be subsequently attached on the electronic birth certificate.

The project was signed by Guangdong Precision Medicine Applications Association and National Center for Women and Children's Health. Research and application will be conducted in Guangdong province, Hainan province and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and over 1,000 newborns will be included in the project.