What is DNA fingerprinting?
• What is DNA Paternity Testing? • What sort of samples are required for DNA Paternity Testing? • How do DNA Tests work? • What are the applications of DNA Testing? • How accurate is DNA-Based paternity testing? • Do I need permission from a doctor or lawyer to have a paternity test done? • Who has to have a sample taken? • What if one of the parents is deceased? • Is there any legal confidentiality policy adopted in America that ensures privacy of DNA testing results? • How is Red blood grouping testing and HLA testing different from DNA paternity testing? • Can DNA testing be done before the baby is born? • Can I preserve DNA samples? • What is a Paternity Index? • Can I cheat DNA Paternity testing? • Is it mandatory to get samples from mother? • What is the difference between a blood DNA test and a mouth swab DNA test? • Can hair samples be used for DNA paternity testing? • How old does the child need to be for paternity determination testing? • What if the two possible fathers are
DNA fingerprinting is a way of identifying a specific individual, rather than simply identifying a species or some particular trait. It is also known as genetic fingerprinting or DNA profiling. As a technology, it has been around since at least 1985, when it was announced by its inventor, Sir Alec Jeffreys. DNA fingerprinting is currently used both for identifying paternity or maternity and for identifying criminals or victims. There is discussion of using DNA fingerprinting as a sort of personal identifier as well, although the viability of this is debatable. The vast majority of a human’s DNA will match exactly that of any other human, making distinguishing between two people rather difficult. DNA fingerprinting uses a specific type of DNA sequence, known as a microsatellite, to make identification much easier. Microsatellites are short pieces of DNA which repeat many times in a given person’s DNA. In a given area, microsatellites tend to be highly variable, making them ideal for DNA
Insights The O.J. Simpson trial has generated much interest in DNA. Formerly used only in research labs, DNA fingerprinting (called DNA profiling by scientists) has entered an intense public spotlight, where lawyers, crime investigators, and scientists constantly discuss its merits and pitfalls. Although usually used to establish paternity, DNA profiling is such good evidence that prosecutors are relying on it more and more to help convict suspects in criminal cases. A DNA molecule resembles a long, twisted ladder. The supports of the ladder are the same for everyone, but the rungs are what make us all different. Each rung is made of a pair of organic molecules called nitrogen bases-adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine-usually symbolized as A, T, C, and G. The sequence of the rungs is important. The bases constitute a code for different proteins, much like the letters of an alphabet form words and sentences. Certain areas of the DNA molecule have no currently understood function, bu
The chemical structure of everyone’s DNA is the same. The only difference between people (or any animal) is the order of the base pairs. There are so many millions of base pairs in each person’s DNA that every person has a different sequence. Using these sequences, every person could be identified solely by the sequence of their base pairs. However, because there are so many millions of base pairs, the task would be very time-consuming. Instead, scientists are able to use a shorter method, because of repeating patterns in DNA. These patterns do not, however, give an individual “fingerprint,” but they are able to determine whether two DNA samples are from the same person, related people, or non-related people. Scientists use a small number of sequences of DNA that are known to vary among individuals a great deal, and analyze those to get a certain probability of a match.
DNA, which stands for deoxyribonucleic acid, is genetic material present in the nucleus of every cell and is what determines individual characteristics such as eye color, hair color, and height. DNA fingerprinting, also called genetic fingerprinting or restriction mapping, is a method of characterizing an individual’s DNA. Formulated by British geneticist Alec Jeffreys, the existence of a DNA fingerprint is based on the assumption that every person (except identical twins) has a unique sequence of DNA. DNA fingerprinting has many uses, among them, determining an individual’s identity, confirming familial relationships, and establishing the range of genetic differences within a population. In criminal investigations, hair, blood, and skin samples left by a criminal can yield a DNA fingerprint, which may be matched to a suspect’s DNA fingerprint. Within the DNA molecule, which resembles…
