How does DNA paternity testing work?
DNA analysis, which is a major advance in the field of paternity testing, involves the direct examination of the genetic material that a child inherited from its biological parents. DNA is located throughout the human body and in the same identical form. Thus, DNA in blood is the same as that in skin, cheek lining, muscle, bone, teeth and various other tissues. The DNA a person has is fully established at conception and remains totally constant throughout life. During the paternity testing process, the genetic characteristics of the child are first compared to those of its mother. Those characteristics in the child that cannot be found in the mother have been inherited from the biological father. If the tested man (alleged father) does not have the genetic characteristics necessary to be the biological father of the child, he is excluded. If the tested man’s DNA does contain those genetic characteristics, then the probability that this man is the father is established at a high percent
