There's a reason why Court TV segues back to the commentators when DNA evidence is presented. How many hearty viewers can tolerate the never-ending litany of numbers, citing one chance in quadrillion or some other number we hope never matches the population of Planet Earth. The judge and jury have no escape, and no doubt their brains quickly surrender to the overwhelming evidence that there's one and only one "you."

But the uses of DNA are only beginning to emerge, and nothing underlines that notion so poignantly as its role following the recent tsunami.

Thailand, for example, has ordered DNA samples from all its tsunami victims, and should you want to report a missing relative, you must be prepared to leave your own DNA behind. And then there is the rejoining of live survivors, and that's where Baby 81 comes in.

Baby 81 has been claimed by no less than 15 couples, and finally one was able to file a petition with the court. The judge calmly ordered DNA tests for the couple and the baby. That was the last of the calm. While the tests only take a day and can be provided free of charge, all parties need to travel some nine hours away for testing, and worse, the judge won't review the findings of the DNA for almost three months.

You can read about the mob of 100 family members and supporters who tried to remove Baby 81 from the hospital, the father's threats to commit suicide on the spot, the distraught mother who managed to hold the baby in her arms, only to have him pulled away. Humans protect their babies with every cell in their bodies, and for these people, this experience must be beyond excruciating. Should they prove not to be the parents, this nightmare takes an almost sadistic twist.

Still, there is the blessing that DNA technology can give a definitive answer to the daunting task which Solomon faced alone so many centuries ago.

Whoever Baby 81's parents are, he has been torn away by trauma and continues to live in trauma every day. The limbic system of human beings - large and small - enables us to to be nurtured, to bond and later in life to nurture ourselves. It can also be compromised - sometimes permanently, causing a lifetime of isolation and misery, lacking the ability to connect. It is of the utmost importance to find this baby's parents as soon as possible. And if his biological parents cannot be found, to put him in loving and committed hands quickly.

This is no time to criticize - this is the time to observe, reflect and learn.

For example, we all now know that Thailand is a popular tourist destination for Swedes. Less well known is that Sweden has been quietly collecting blood samples from most of its babies for the past three decades. This highly-protected biobank was intended to be used for medical research, to see if medical conditions arising later might be detected at birth. Swedish lawmakers recently passed an extraordinary measure enabling authorities to use these samples to match young Swedish victims of the tsunami, a number which exceeds 100.

Is it right to bring closure to the families of these victims? Absolutely. Could the existence of this biobank in and of itself compromise the basic rights of individuals in some other way? Yes, again.

So while the mighty biblical conundrum which faced King Solomon has been permanently resolved, many more have sprung up in its place.

I'm Moira Gunn. This is Five Minutes.

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