DNA paternity test helps in indicating that whether or not a particular man is the biological father of a child. Paternity test can be conducted for peace of mind or legal purposes. Paternity tests are easy to conduct as well. The parents can collect their own DNA samples by performing self-buccal swabbing test.
Legal paternity tests can also be performed. They can support custody cases. They also support in property dispute cases. They can be used for immigration purpose as well.
DNA testing is done with the help of DNA profiling. DNA profiling is also called genetic fingerprinting. DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid is a complex chemical structure that is unique and different for each organism. In other words genome is made up of DNA. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes. We inherit these chromosomes from our parents. When a baby is conceived, half of the genes are of father and half of mother. The baby’s DNA is a mix of fathers and mothers DNA. It can be easily detected that who is the biological father or mother by simply collecting the baby’s DNA.
A sample can be obtained from various sources like the buccal cells, blood or even hair, etc. the results can be obtained in five to ten days. If the testing is done by CVS or amniocentesis, then it takes about three to four weeks.
DNA tests can be conducted to verify grand parentage as well. Where it can be found that the person is the suspected grandfather or grandmother of the child. Most grand parentage tests are conducted in case of property disputes. There can be various other reasons too. In case of paternity test, in certain cases the alleged father is not willing to undertake the test, in that case any sample like the tooth brush or hair could be used. There may be different techniques used by the laboratories to conduct the test. Two of them are restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using short tandem repeats (STRs).
Many laboratories offer home testing kits. You can purchase these kits online too. The kit also contains the instructions for conducting the test successfully at home. You just have to follow the instructions carefully. The buccal cells, from the inside of a person’s cheek can be collected. This can be done using a buccal swab or a cheek swab. These swabs have a synthetic tip and a wooden or plastic handle. This swab is to be rubbed inside the person’s cheek. Now this swab is sent to the laboratory for testing. These tests are equally reliable if the instructions are followed carefully.
However, such a test may not be useful for legal purpose. In case of legal orders, the person needs to go to the concerned laboratory to get the test done. Strict conditions are followed to collect the samples. If you don’t want to wait for nine months, for the baby to be born, you can get a prenatal paternity test done, which is conducted during pregnancy, to know the biological father of the unborn child.
If the test to be conducted were maternal DNA test, then the samples from the alleged mother and child would be needed. If the test were paternal DNA test, then the samples from the alleged father and child would be needed.
Author has in depth knowledge of dna testing. Author is running his own DNA Test labs in India. Author has written many articles on DNA Paternity Test