What is DNA Paternity Testing?
Paternity means fatherhood. Paternity is established when a paternity testing laboratory uses genetic testing methods / DNA test, to demonstrate to a legal standard, that an alleged father is the biological father. Paternity is disproved when these same methods and standards demonstrate that an alleged father is not the biological father.
Before answering the question ‘what is DNA testing’ it is important to understand the question ‘what is DNA’. DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) is the genetic material in the cells of your body. There are 46 chromosomes in each cell apart from those in sperm cells and egg cells, which have only 23 chromosomes. At the moment of conception the two sets of 23 chromosomes combine to make the 46 necessary to create a person. Therefore a person receives half of his/her DNA from the mother and half from the Father. No two people will have exactly the same DNA except for identical twins. This feature of the way in which DNA is passed down from parents to child, is the basis of DNA paternity testing. DNA paternity testing detects certain parts, of the DNA make-up of an individual, which are known to have a high degree of variation from one person to another. By using several DNA tests the DNA at a number of these variable regions can be detected and compared to see if individuals are related.
DNA paternity testing is a complex scientific process, carried out on a simple mouth swab, which can positively identify relationships between people. Most commonly it is used to establish if a man is the true biological father of a child. DNA paternity testing is also often referred to simply as a DNA test, a paternity test or DNA testing. It was developed by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester in 1985. Cellmark became the UK’s first private DNA paternity testing laboratory in 1987. DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) is the bodys genetic ‘blueprint’. It is a long thread-like molecule which carries the “genetic code” that determines our individual characteristics. DNA is found in almost all of the billions of cells that make up our body. Every child inherits a unique mixture of DNA from its parents so, except for identical twins, no two people in the world have exactly the same genetic code.
DNA paternity testing is a complex scientific process, carried out on a simple mouth swab, which can positively identify relationships between people. Most commonly it is used to establish if a man is the true biological father of a child. DNA paternity testing is also often referred to simply as a DNA test, a paternity test or DNA testing. It was developed by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester in 1985. The UK’s first private DNA paternity testing laboratory was opened by Cellmark in 1987. For further information on the work of the Human Genetics Commission and the Human Tissue Act visit the HGC’s website www.hgc.gov.uk. This makes DNA testing the safest, most secure and most accurate method available for confirming paternity and other forms of relationship testing.
