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Selecting a Laboratory for Paternity Testing
An Excerpt From Trace Your Roots With DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree
By Megan Smolenyak and Ann Turner
There are literally thousands of paternity testing labs with Web sites listed at Google. The yellow pages in your phone book will probably have some listings too, but you do not need to limit your search to local companies. The laboratory can mail a DNA collection kit, usually with a swab to rub inside your cheek, and you can mail the sample back.
There may be two options when you order a test: a legal test and a "curiosity" test done to satisfy yourself. The test itself is exactly the same, but the legal version requires a third party to collect the sample, along with proof of identity. The chain of custody must be preserved if the results are to be admissible in a court of law; otherwise, a defendant might argue that samples had been switched somewhere along the line.
The American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) has an accreditation program for paternity testing labs. Not so long ago, blood types were a crude method used to exclude parentage, and the AABB has continued to monitor testing methods. Only about 40 laboratories are accredited throughout the country. For a current listing, check the AABB Web site.
Some smaller companies will send the samples to an accredited laboratory for processing. This is not necessarily a drawback; the smaller companies may have experts on the staff who are skilled at interpreting the numbers and will take the time to explain the results. Other small laboratories may perform the work themselves. Since paternity testing is fairly routine, and commercial kits standardize the process, lack of accreditation is not a fatal flaw for curiosity tests. However, tests for legal purposes might be challenged if they were not performed by an accredited laboratory.
One point of comparison to check when you are evaluating companies is the number of markers routinely tested. Some companies will test a few markers at a time, just until the paternity index reaches a minimum number, typically 100. Other companies will routinely test the 13 CODIS markers or even more.
You're introduced to a stranger who shares your last name. Don't you always wonder, could we be related? Thanks to breakthrough science in the rapidly growing world of genetics, it's now possible to find out. Trace Your Roots With DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree (Rodale, 2004) by Megan Smolenyak and Ann Turner is the first comprehensive guide to this amazing new field. With genetic testing (don't worry – no needles, medical privacy is assured, and you don't have to dig up your dead relatives), you'll be able to knock down genealogical brick walls. The fascinating results can tell you:Want to see more?
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