DNA Paternity Testing - 5 key questions you should ask your DNA
testing provider.
DNA paternity testing in its purest form is the application of
DNA technology to provide information about the parentage of an
individual (usually a child). The mother of the child is rarely
disputed, and most of the time DNA testing is requested to
inform the likely father of a child.
DNA is inherited from our parents, with half coming from the
mother, and the other half from the father. This pattern of
inheritance allows the opportunity where the mother of the child
is not disputed, to produce a putative DNA profile of the
biological father. The process is relatively simple in that the
final DNA profile of the child is composed of a series of bands
which can only come from the two parents. If the mother's bands
are deducted from the child profile the remainder must come from
the biological father. Any male that may consider himself the
father can have a DNA profile produced and compared against the
remaining bands in the child's profile.
There can only be two outcomes from this type of comparison. The
first is a 'no-match' scenario where the remaining bands in the
child's profile could not have come from the sample obtained
from the alleged father. This is known as exclusion and
eliminates the possibility of this individual being the
biological father of the child. The second is a 'match' scenario
where the remaining bands in the child's profile could all be
accounted for by comparison with the alleged father. If this is
the case the significance of the match needs to be assessed by a
DNA interpretation expert who will provide a degree of certainty
associated with the likelihood that the alleged male is the
biological father of the child.
Before you commission any Paternity DNA testing you should be
sure you have clear answers to the following 5 key questions:
1. Has the DNA testing facility been accredited by a validated
external body such as the American Association of Blood Banks
(AABB). If the answer is no, do not have your testing done by
this company, you may not be able to rely on the results.
2. Does the company carrying out the DNA testing have a thorough
track-record in this area of work, and have they proved their
technology in court? Be wary of companies that sub-contract
their testing. DNA profile interpretation can be a tricky
business,
and there is a lot at stake when you commission a DNA test, and
you want reassurance on the reliability of your service provider.
3. Is the company you are planning to use an accredited
laboratory or merely a broker? Brokers are simply in this game
to make money, and have no interest in the quality or the impact
of this life changing technology. Avoid them irrespective of the
tempting pricing they may offer you.
4. What degree of certainty does the company provide in relation
to the results of the tests? An exclusion should be 100% with an
inclusion at, at least 99.99% confidence levels. These are the
figures that are expected in a court of law.
5. Does the internal quality standard require duplication of all
results before they are reported to the customer? This is an
industry standard requirement which is often overlooked by some
of the 'cheaper' DNA testing providers.
If the answer to any of these questions is unclear, my strong
advice is to find an alternative provider. You simply do not
want to trust such an important piece of work to a company that
does not guarantee a top quality product, with excellent
customer care back-up.
If you want to find out more about DNA Paternity Testing click
on the links in the author section below.