Paternity & DNA Testing

DDC serves all types of clients, from the private individual seeking to quietly solve a family question, to agencies and attorneys who are seeking testing for the clients we represent. For this article, we’re highlighting our DNA testing services for Legal Professionals.

DDC’s Legal Services team has worked with legal professionals for almost two decades, providing them with the detailed information and paperwork needed to move a case involving a DNA test. The legal situations we have served are varied and complex, but most can be classified into the following categories:

• Family Law – cases usually involve paternity testing to address questions in the resolution of child custody, child support, and divorce proceedings.
• Estate Planning and Execution – cases involve DNA banking and profiling as part of an integrated estate management plan, as well as postmortem DNA testing when disputes arise during execution of an estate.
• Immigration – cases most often involve family relationship DNA testing to answer questions about the relationship between a petitioner and immigration sponsor.
• Adoption and Assisted Reproduction – cases can range from paternity testing needed to release parental rights, DNA testing to satisfy international adoption requirements, DNA testing in surrogacy/assisted reproduction cases, and reunification.

If you are a legal professional or caseworker and would like to receive more information, please contact us at 1-800-330-7648,  or email thavlin@dnacenter.com.

As reported by several news sources and WebMD, another study has validated the use of fetal DNA circulating in the mother’s blood for a paternity test. Known as non-invasive prenatal paternity testing, the test allows women to undergo a paternity test before the baby is born, while eliminating the need for an amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling—procedures which carry a risk for miscarriage.

The authors of the study tested the procedure on 30 pregnant women who were between 8 and 14 weeks in their pregnancy. They collected blood samples, separated the fetal DNA in the mother’s blood, and compared it with blood collected from the biological father along with blood from 29 other unrelated men. In each case, the biological father was correctly determined by the procedure.

DDC has offered the non-invasive prenatal paternity test since August of last year. For more information, visit our prenatal DNA testing page, which features a video explaining the process. You can also call 1-800-613-5768 for a free consultation.

DNA Day this year will be celebrated on Friday, April 20. Usually set around April 25, DNA Day commemorates the date that the discovery of the DNA double helix was published by James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and Rosalind Franklin. It was also this month in 2003 that the Human Genome Project announced the completion of the human genome draft.

What are you doing to celebrate DNA Day? Here’s a list of fun DNA activities to get you started:

• Our DNA Education Center features fun projects, including DNA origami and an interactive family portraits workbook demonstrating inherited traits.
• The National Genome Research Institute has an activity page that includes a video on how to extract DNA from strawberries.
• Chat with scientists, genetic counselors, and clinicians about anything you’ve ever wanted to know about DNA on April 20 from 8 am to 5 pm on the DNA Day Chatroom.

Feel free to comment below on other DNA Day events going on in your area!

A recent article on Babycenter reports on a study in which almost 15% of same-sex twins’ parents were misinformed by their doctors about whether their twins were identical or fraternal.

“A lot of parents finding out later on felt they just didn’t know their own children,” said study co-auther Abi Fisher.

A simple DNA test can clear up the question of whether your twins are fraternal or identical. Called a Twin Zygosity test, the process analyzes DNA markers from each sibling to determine if there is an exact match—in this case, the twins are identical.

The results of a twin zygosity test are often used to satisfy personal curiosity, but the information is medically relevant as well, particularly if one twin exhibits symptoms of a hereditary disease, or in cases where one twin requires a tissue or organ transplant.

For more information on twin zygosity testing and to inquire about special offers, please call 1-800-613-5768.

On January 31, the ATCC Standards Development Organization (ATCC-SDO) released the consensus standard for researchers to ensure the identity and authenticity of cell lines used in scientific studies.

This long-awaited development comes after calls from leading scientists for improved authentication practices, which highlighted the number of cross-contaminated and misidentified cell lines that subsequently invalidated a large body of scientific work in the past three decades.

DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC) offers Cell Line Authentication services to address researchers’ need to verify their cell line’s identity and purity. We provide STR profiling for human cell lines, as well as detection of mycoplasma contamination. Our laboratory has provided these services to major institutions and corporations, as well as to individual research projects.

For more information about our cell line testing services, visit our Cell Line Authentication page or call 1-800-831-9830.

A research study conducted in Australia found that new fathers are 26% more likely to have a near-miss while driving, and 36% more likely to narrowly avoid an accident at work. The study, which included 250 men who are father to newborns under three months old, lends support to proposed legislation there that allows for paid paternity leave.

In the United States, fathers may be able to take a paternity leave (often called a “baby bonding leave”) through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Employers vary on whether the requested leave is paid or not; many fathers end up using their vacation leave pay to cover this leave.

FMLA is available for both married and unmarried fathers. If you are unmarried father and find yourself needing proof of paternity to obtain legal benefits for yourself and your child (or if you just want to know for certain), DDC can help you  establish paternity through a DNA test.

Call us at 1-800-613-5768 for a free consultation, or order online.

Two state court rulings last year updates long-established laws, and now allow the use of DNA testing to:

1. Terminate child support in previously settled divorce or paternity suits when the test proves the man is not the child’s biological father, and
2. Challenge a husband’s paternity claim in court if the unmarried man is proven to be the biological father.

Paternity DNA testing is used in many legal situations, including the two described above. While the scenarios in which a DNA test is needed may vary, the DNA testing process itself is simple and the same for every person who wishes to use the test results in court:

1. Contact an AABB-accredited laboratory, such as DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC), to initiate a legal DNA test. This test uses the Chain of Custody, which assures courts and other parties that the samples were taken from properly identified individuals.
2. DDC will schedule a sample collection appointment at a time and place that is convenient to you. Buccal (cheek) swabs are the preferred way to collect DNA, as they are painless and non-invasive.
3. When the samples reach the laboratory, it takes 2 working days to complete the test.
4. Receive the results via mail or online.

DDC’s DNA test results are recognized by courts and government agencies worldwide. For more information, call us at 1-800-613-5768.

Scientists in China have completed the genome sequence for Genghis Khan’s direct descendant—the first complete genome sequence from a representative of the Mongolian population.

The unnamed man is Khan’s 34th- generation descendant, who was chosen for his fully defined family pedigree dating back to the 13th century, and the absence of intermarriage with other ethnic groups. This may have been particularly important, because Khan is famous for being prolific. According to the article:

A study released in 2003 revealed that 8 percent of the males living in the regions of the former Mongolian Empire carried a nearly identical Y chromosome, suggesting that they were all direct descendants of Genghis Khan and his many sons. According to the study, as many as 0.5 percent of all males on the planet today may be descendants of Genghis Khan.

The scientists’ goal in decoding this genome sequence is to explore genetic differences and examine the characteristics of genetic diseases found among the Mongolian people.

Genome sequencing also provides information that scientists can use in tracing a person’s ancestry. As indicated above, testing the Y chromosome is often used to trace paternal lineages. DNA Diagnostics Center offers Y-chromosome comparison testing to investigate a possible paternal lineage between two males.

Our Ancestry division also offers a Y-STR test that gives ancestry researchers their Y haplogroup—revealing the geographic origins of their direct paternal ancestor. Genghis Khan belongs to the Haplogroup C.

A team of Dutch scientists have developed an eye color test that can determine a suspect’s eye color from a DNA sample left behind at a crime scene, a news article reports.

This new test will help investigators identify potential suspects in cases where a DNA profile from crime scene evidence does not have a match in existing DNA databases. However, the test alone cannot be used as evidence towards a conviction in court, because it only has an accuracy of 94%.

Eye color is one of the many external features scientists are investigating with the hope of developing tools in the field of DNA forensics. Physical characteristics can be controlled by one gene, or a combination of genes, which makes some features easier to decode than others. The field of DNA forensics continues to evolve at an exciting pace, and the possibility of creating a physical sketch based on DNA evidence is real, albeit far off into the future.

DNA Diagnostic Center’s Forensic Division continues to monitor these developments in the field. As a leader in forensic DNA services, our forensic scientists have worked with many legal and law enforcement professionals, providing case consultation and DNA testing.

For more information, please visit DDC Forensics‘ website or call 1-800-406-1940.

Although the bobtail in the classic Christmas carol refers to “the style of the horse’s tails—a tail cut short or a tail gathered up and tied in a knot,” the fashion is not limited to horses. In fact, some dog breeds also sport a bobtail—and some animal owners been known to artificially dock a dog’s tail to conform to a breed standard.

DDC’s Veterinary Division now offers a DNA test that will determine if a dog is a Natural Bobtail—that is, if it is really and truly genetically short-tailed.

The bobtail trait is controlled by a dominant gene that follows a somewhat revised version of Mendelian inheritance—dogs with one copy of the dominant Natural Bobtail gene will exhibit a short tail, while dogs with two copies exhibit long tail. Two copies of the recessive gene are considered lethal for dogs—the embryos do not survive to term.

The DNA test will allow animal owners and prospective buyers to determine whether the a dog is a Natural Bobtail or has been artificially docked. It will also help breeders to manage mating patterns and make selection decisions.

For more information, visit DDC Veterinary or call them at 1-800-625-0874

Happy Holidays from all of us at DDC!