There's no law around genetic code, but DNA is being used in many ways

The genetic code is being used in many ways - from investigating crime to drawing up a personalised diet plan, tracing one's ancestry and even as artwork

Four years ago, while on a trip to Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh, 24 engineering students from Hyderabad got swept away in the Beas river as the floodgates of a reservoir were opened unannounced. By the time their bodies were found, many were unrecognisable.

Assisting the local team on the spot was a representative of the State Forensic Science Laboratory, Himachal Pradesh. The team took tissue samples from the bodies to match with the DNA samples that the forensic lab in Andhra Pradesh had collected from the victims’ parents, says Vivek Sahajpal, assistant director (DNA) at the laboratory. “To save