It sometimes happens that there are situations where a child is born, but the father may or may not be sure that the child is indeed his. In other cases, a woman has a child, but the father denies paternity. In such instances, it is important to resolve this issue to the satisfaction of all parties by testing the DNA of the father and the child.
Up until recently, these tests were conducted in a physician’s office. But advances in technology have now made it possible for people to do these tests in the privacy of their home and send specimens to a lab for analysis. The results are then mailed to the parties. The in-home testing procedure offers anonymity, while at the same time offering conclusive proof of paternity.
To understand how these tests work, one must first have some basic knowledge about DNA and why DNA matches are considered to be highly accurate in determining a parental match. DNA, which stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid, is actually two strands of nucleotides that are twisted into what is known as a double helix. All of a person’s genetic information is carried in his or her DNA, and every person has DNA that is unique.
A child will have a combination of the DNA from his or her biological father and mother. Testing, then, will compare the DNA from the father and the child, looking for biological similarities, called the DNA profile. The child should have features from both parents, of course, but if a man’s DNA profile is in no way similar to the child, he can be ruled out as being the biological father.
Normally the testing will be able to determine whether a man is not the father with 100 percent accuracy due to an obvious difference in the DNA profile, but tests are not always 100 percent reliable when it comes to saying that a man is definitely the father. Usually, the tests will indicate a percentage of certainty, somewhere between 99.0 and 99.9 percent when enough of the characteristics of the profiles match. Additionally, there can be some mutations or irregularities in a father’s DNA that can affect the test results.
DNA testing used to require the collection of blood, and that made home testing less convenient. However, since testing can now be done on cells from inside the cheek, collecting samples has become easier, and home testing has become a hot new market with numerous companies offering these services for consumers on the Internet.
Most of the home tests operate in the same manner. The test kit includes a cotton swab to use to collect cells from inside the cheek. The samples are sent to the lab in special containers. Once they are received at the lab, the DNA is extracted from the samples provided. Once the DNA is separated from the cells, a chain reaction is created, which results in a DNA profile from the samples. This profile defines precise points – called loci - on the DNA chain. A computer analysis comparing the loci of the samples from the alleged father and child will usually rule out paternity fairly quickly.
Normally, a physician or biologist will need to study the test results closely in order to determine with certainty if the two are related. The rule of thumb is that if three or more of the loci do not match, then the man can be ruled out as being the father.
This new technology has spawned hundreds of companies advertising these home DNA paternity test kits. Many boast of extraordinary successes and high percentages of accuracy. In choosing a home test kit, the buyer should read all information very carefully and be wary of anyone claiming 100 percent accuracy. This is not possible with current technology. The Internet is a wonderful resource, but it can also be the perfect place for scam artists to operate.
If you need test results for legal reasons, it may still be wise to have a genetic specialist conduct the testing. Lawyers who specialize in this field have an arsenal of resources available and could well challenge results from a less than reputable lab. These tests can be costly, and if challenged, additional expenses could be incurred. But as this technology is tested and reputable labs emerge, home DNA paternity testing will most likely become the norm in cases such as these.
