Paternity & DNA Testing

A Central Pennsylvania news source reports on the story of how DNA helped to finally solve the mystery of a World War II soldier who died in a plane crash—and whose family has been wondering about his remains for over 65 years.

The remains, which have a long history of being dug up and reburied three times, transported from New Guinea to the Philippines, were finally identified when 3 things came to fruition: 1) bone fragments that remained at the crash site were discovered along with a metal identification tag in 1989; 2) DNA technology developed allowing identification using bone, circa 1999; and 3) a sister’s DNA sample was submitted and matched to remains’ profile in the Army DNA database in 2010.

Mitochondrial DNA testing (mtDNA) was likely used in this instance. Mitochondrial DNA, a type of DNA that is passed from a mother to all her children (maternally inherited), remains viable for testing in bone fragments over very long periods of time. Brothers and sisters from the same mother would have matching mitochondrial DNA.

DDC’s laboratory can help solve family mysteries such as these, using different types of Family Relationship DNA tests. For more information, call us at 1-800-613-5768.

Paternity is all over the media lately—with the Maury show, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent revelation, and the increasing attention that several U.S. states are paying to the role of paternity testing in child support scenarios.

You might be in a paternity situation and wondering, is there any privacy in paternity testing?

Yes, there is. DDC was founded with the belief that the average person should have an option to settle paternity matters quickly and quietly, without going on public record.

At DDC, we ensure strict confidentiality in our private clients’ cases. From the initial free consultation to the DNA test results, DDC has safeguards in place that ensure our clients’ private information is never released to unauthorized parties.

These include account passwords as well as a caller identification protocol to ensure that those who call in are authorized to discuss the DNA test with us. Our Chain of Custody process provides documentation that keeps track of samples and paperwork throughout the testing process, making sure they are not tampered with.

For more information about private DNA testing, please call us at 1-800-613-5768.

In two states, lawmakers are working on providing relief to men who have been forced to pay child support for children who are not biologically theirs.

In Texas last week, Senate Bill 785 was signed into law, enabling a man to file a petition of mistaken paternity within a year from the time he becomes aware that he is not the child’s biological father, ending his burden of paying child support.

In North Carolina, House Bill 55 has passed the House and is currently under Senate review. If passed, the alleged father can request DNA testing to prove non-paternity and find immediate relief, in some circumstances, from child support payments. The mother could also be ordered to reimburse the father for previously paid child support if the court finds that the mother used fraud or misrepresentation to lead the man to believe he was the child’s father.

Both laws have certain restrictions—for example, the Raleigh law would not cover circumstances where the father has previously acknowledged the child as his own while knowing he wasn’t the biological father.

DNA paternity testing has long been used to prove paternity in order to establish financial support for children. With these two developments in the legal arena, men who were mistakenly paying years of child support can now find financial relief.

For more information about using DNA testing for a child support situation, please contact DNA Diagnostics Center at 1-800-613-5768.

President Obama announced Sunday that Osama Bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan Sunday by a CIA-led team. According to news reports, his identity was verified using facial recognition as well as DNA testing, which gave a 99.9% probability of a DNA match—meaning that it is virtually certain that the body in possession by the CIA is that of Bin Laden’s.

The DNA technology used to verify Bin Laden’s identity is the same one used in paternity testing. Basically, a biological sample is taken and tested using identifying genetic markers to create a unique DNA profile. The DNA profile is then matched to “known samples”—a reference DNA profile from either the person himself or his close relatives.

In Bin Laden’s case, it is reported that the CIA had reference samples from two relatives, including one of his sisters who had died in Boston. Siblings have a good probability of sharing inherited genetic markers, and depending on the markers they share, the probability of a match can be very high.

In a paternity test, DNA profiles of the father and child are compared to see whether the child has inherited the requisite number of markers from the father, therefore establishing a “match.”

Read more about the DNA test confirming Bin Laden’s death.

More from DNA discussions Popular Mechanics and NPR.