Genetic and DNA Resources

(Continued from page 1 of Paternity and DNA Testing Articles)

Definition of Parentage Testing from eNotes.com
Parentage or paternity testing may be sought solely for the sake of curiosity, but is most often used to prove or disprove paternity for legal purposes. Legally motivated reasons to seek parentage testing can include contested child support, custody, or visitation rights, immigration status, adoption, and insurance or inheritance claims.

Historically, paternity testing was based on examination of the blood groups of the child and putative father, and the test could only exclude the possibility of relatedness when blood groups did not match; matching blood groups could not prove parentage, but only the possibility thereof. Modern testing, based on the examination of DNA, can prove with virtually 100% certainty exclusion of paternity or the probability to a certainty of 99.9% that a given person is the parent of a particular child.

Read more from eNotes.com.

DNA Testing: An Introduction for Non-Scientists
This explanation of DNA testing is intended as an introduction to the subject for those who may have limited backgrounds in biological science. While basically accurate, this explanation involves liberal use of illustration and, in some cases, over-simplification. Although intended to be informative, it is a brief and incomplete explanation of a complex subject. The author suggests consulting the scientific literature for more rigorous details and alternative views.

DNA is material that governs inheritance of eye color, hair color, stature, bone density and many other human and animal traits. DNA is a long, but narrow string-like object. A one foot long string or strand of DNA is normally packed into a space roughly equal to a cube 1/millionth of an inch on a side. This is possible only because DNA is a very thin string.

Read more from Scientific Testimony.

Genetic Fingerprinting from Wikipedia
Genetic fingerprinting, DNA testing, DNA typing, and DNA profiling are techniques used to distinguish between individuals of the same species using only samples of their DNA. Its invention by Sir Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester was announced in 1985. Two humans will have the vast majority of their DNA sequence in common. Genetic fingerprinting uses the small portion of highly variable repeating sequences in human DNA called "microsatellites." Two unrelated humans will be likely to have different numbers of microsatellites at these locations. By using PCR to detect the number of repeats at several loci, it is possible to establish a match that is extremely unlikely to have arisen by coincidence, except in the case of identical twins, who will have identical genetic profiles.

Searching for Your Birth Family: Beginning Steps
According to the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse (NAIC), the number of adult adoptees who are searching for their birth families is growing. Similarly, the number of birth parents who are searching for their adopted children also appears to be on the rise.

There are countless reasons why adopted persons and birth parents begin searching for their long-lost biological relatives. Perhaps they are reaching milestone birthdays (age 30, 40, or 50, for example) and have begun reflecting on their lives. Maybe they are getting married, are starting families, or have recently lost a loved one. Momentous life changes such as these tend to spur deep personal reflection as well. Another common reason why many adoptees begin searching is their interest in their biological relatives’ medical histories and genetic dispositions. Additionally, adoptees who have recently learned that they were adopted often feel an urgent need to locate their birth families.