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Suicide bomber’s eye fluid to be tested in reputed overseas laboratory
By Marisa de Silva
In a final attempt to determine whether the female suicide bomber who targeted the Army Chief was in fact pregnant, the office of the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) is planning to consult reputed laboratories overseas, using a sample of her eye fluid.

The JMO’s office had decided to test samples of eye fluid rather than blood samples as there was a delay in obtaining a Court order to conduct the necessary tests with the Courts being closed over the weekend, said JMO Dr. L.B.L. De Alwis.

Although a blood sample was sent to a private laboratory on Tuesday, it was too late to test the blood as it was already decomposed, he said.
“We only managed to collect a very small sample of blood which had to be milked from the bomber’s thigh vein. Therefore, we were only able to send one sample to the lab. Although, we also consulted ‘Genetech’, that institution didn’t have the necessary technology to conduct the tests,” he said.

“No genetic test can be conducted to determine whether the suicide bomber was pregnant as pregnancy has no impact on a person’s genes. However, if we had got a tissue sample from her uterus, we could have conducted a DNA test on the sample.” Genetech head Dr. Neil Fernandopulle said.

There is also the option of sending a blood sample overseas to conduct a bio-chemical test using advanced technology, to check for the prevalence of pregnancy hormones in her blood, but for that test to be conducted as well, the blood must be uncontaminated, he said.

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