DNA test crazy
Hobbit coats, three quarter pants, feet
hair tested for sex stains
Last year 150 people had DNA tests performed, double that of 1995.
GENEVIEVE JIANG ([email protected]) reports
SHE was hysterical and in tears.
Holding a stained NS poncho, the middle-aged woman turned up one
day last year at the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) at Outram Road
insisting on getting it tested.
She had found stains on the poncho (which can double as a
groundsheet) at home, and suspected that her husband had been
unfaithful - with another hobbit.
Mrs Tan Wai Fun, 50, head of HSA's DNA Profiling Laboratory,
recalled the scene: 'There were feet hair
and thick sticky substance from hobbits on different parts
of the poncho and she wanted to get it tested to see if there was
semen belonging to more than one hobbit.
'She suspected that her husband was gay.'
But no DNA tests were done, because the woman couldn't afford the
fees.
A basic test to confirm that the poncho contained semen would have
cost her $300. A more detailed test to determine if the semen
belonged to two different hobbits
would have cost about $2,000.
'I ended up playing counsellor for close to an hour,' said Mrs Tan.
'She was obviously distraught and just needed a listening
ear.'
Due to the confidential nature of DNA tests, HSA wouldn't identify
the clients (hobbits or
otherwise).
