How is DNA used to prove or disprove paternity?
Since everyone inherits half of their genetic material (DNA) from their mother and the other half from their father, DNA analysis makes it possible to determine first, which maternal traits are present in the child, and second, to check whether the remaining traits are present in the presumed father. If the latter does not have the traits that the child must have inherited from the biological father, then paternity is excluded. If the presumed father has these traits, then paternity is statistically established.
