The Amelogenin Sex Gene in DNA Paternity Testing
DNA testing is now the most widely used method for determining the biological relationships between individuals. The DNA paternity test is probably the most widely known of these tests and involves the testing of an alleged father, mother and the child in question. This test can also be conducted just between Alleged Father and a child without the Mothers sample. When performing the Paternity Test, most DNA testing laboratories will test a minimum of 16 genetic markers for enhanced accuracy levels in excess of 99.99%. One of these genes tested is called the Amelogenin gene and its use is to determine the sex of the sample that has been processed. Therefore in reality the statistical analysis is actually based on the matching of 15 of these 16 markers. From a biological perspective, males have an XY chromosome and females have an XX chromosome.