Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is the genetic material that makes you who you are. It is the blueprint from which you were made—influencing your features, your personality, your habits, your likes, your dislikes, and others.
Human cells contain 23 pairs of chromosomes (46 total chromosomes). When the human body creates egg or sperm cells, the cells go through meiosis, a division process that takes them from 23 chromosomal pairs to just 23 chromosomes (one set of 22 autosomes and one sex chromosome). A human embryo is formed when an egg is fertilized with a single sperm cell that brings with it its own copy of each chromosome. Once fertilized, the egg cell contains everything that it needs to create a new individual.
As explained, every human being has DNA. Your DNA is one-half of your mother’s DNA and one-half of your father’s DNA. This is why we can test for familial relationships. To learn more about paternity testing, please read “Understanding Paternity Testing.”
