Paternity & DNA Testing

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.