Although Ghana has the capability and equipment to do standard DNA profiling, in extreme cases involving highly degraded remains, the country may lack certain advanced equipment and reagents for specialised analysis.

A Human Identification Consultant and Infectious Disease Specialist at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Central Laboratory, Dr Augustine E. Sagoe, mentioned one of such advanced equipment to be the Next Generation Sequencing equipment, which, he explained, was able to produce results with speed and highest accuracy.

He said the country, however, currently lacked that type of equipment.

“In cases of this nature (referring to charred remains), we need the speed and the highest accuracy possible. So we need this advanced technology to help us identify the victims at a speed. Because we don’t have them, in some cases, we send the samples to international partner laboratories outside the country to do them, and they come at a huge cost,” he pointed out.

Dr Sagoe was speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic on Ghana’s capability to still do DNA testing.

Last Thursday, for instance, the remains of the two ministers of state, a deputy National Security coordinator, a deputy director of NADMO, a vice-chairman of the governing party and the three crew members who died in a helicopter crash the previous day had to be taken to South Africa for DNA testing and identification.

Capable laboratories

Dr Sagoe said Ghana had laboratories capable of performing forensic DNA testing mainly for paternity, criminal investigations and disaster victims’ identification, but added, however, that the level of capacity was varied, and that highly complex or degraded sample cases were usually sent abroad for specialised analysis.

He said aside from the huge cost involved in conducting such forensic tests outside the country, there were also huge charges involved in transporting biological samples across borders and the regulations around it.

“You will not believe that the charges of transporting a biological sample may cost you more in dollars.

So, looking at all these, if we have this advanced Next Generation Sequencing equipment here, then we can do the test here and save Ghana time and money, and also save the whole West African region, even to North Africans,” Dr Sagoe said.

He mentioned other benefits of the Next Generation Sequencing equipment to include accurately and speedily sequencing disease outbreaks and determining a person’s heredity.