February 23, 2012

How we do a DNA paternity test

A DNA test looks for similarities within specific regions of DNA to see whether two individuals are related.

Samples taken from child, mother and father are processed in our laboratory. DNA from each individual's sample is extracted. To identify similarities in the DNA, we target fifteen specific areas of the DNA which are known to vary widely between individuals. These fifteen areas of DNA, plus an area of DNA which indicates the sex of an individual, are targeted and copied many times.

The DNA is then separated and sorted by size to produce a 'DNA profile'. A DNA profile is similar to a barcode and is unique to each individual (except identical twins). By comparing the DNA profiles of the child and the mother, it is possible to establish the common factors between them. The child's factors not found in the mother's profile must therefore come from the biological father. An alleged father is excluded as the biological father if factors found on his DNA profile are not shared with the child's. However if the alleged father's profile shares common factors with the child's then he is not excluded as the true biological father. A statistical analysis is then carried out to calculate the probability of paternity.

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