Collecting your own DNA samples does not of course mean you will get the results of your DNA test there and then. It is not quite anything like a pregnancy test which tells you a few seconds after the instant you do it whether you are expecting a child or not. Paternity DNA testing is more complicated. With an at home DNA testing kit you will simply collected your DNA samples and then send these off for laboratory analysis.

How do I collect my DNA samples?

Your at home paternity test will contain a pair of oral swabs per person. Oral swabs are very easy to use and hence why they are the standard method for sample collection for all DNA tests. Oral swabs are simply rubbed on the inside of the mouth; doing this collect saliva (in fact they are sometimes called saliva DNA samples) but the DNA is not actually in your saliva but rather in your cheek cells. Cheek cells will detach themselves as you rub the swab in the mouth.

Normally, you will be told not to eat or drink anything for around one hour before the test; this is to make sure that DNA samples do not get contaminated with any food or substances that may be contained in what you have eaten or drunk.

Your DNA testing kit will also contain a set of instructions which are normally not more than a couple of points. Most serious companies will also provide consent forms: these are extremely important and you will need to fill these in carefully providing some details and signatures.

The at home paternity test kit is very simply to use and completing the test will very unlikely pose any kind of problem whatsoever

To be more precise, Autism is actually Autism Spectrum Disorder- this is because there is such a huge range of types of autism that is hard to classify them under just one heading because they are not all the same; people with autism can vary immensely from one to the other.

Types of Autism

• Asperger’s
• Childhood disintegrative disorder
• Rett Syndrome
• Pervasive development disorder

In terms of genes and the genes that might cause autism, new, revealing research has emerged. There are links between the genes responsible for autism and other illnesses. Genetic mutations take place in kids with the disorder that cause it to happen. Children without these mutations do not develop autism. The genes that are linked to autism are often located next to other genes which are themselves responsible for other brain disorders. These disorders include:

• Hyperactivity and ADD (attention deficit disorder)
• Obsessive Compulsive disorders (OCD)
• Bipolar Disorders

Genetic testing and the studies on the genes causing autism continue. Scientists need to find out why, for example, boys are more likely to be affected than girls. How many actual mutations are there and whether each form of autism is linked to its own peculiar gene?

Twin studies have shown that identical twins are much more likely to share autistic traits. This proves there is a genetic component. Genes are responsible for autism.

Walking in dog poo is indeed unpleasant as is finding dog poo in public and private spaces. In many cities, dog waste has become a real issue. People are often indifferent or too lazy to clean up after their dogs; they wait for the dog to poop and then just walk away from it.

Having a dog DNA stool test means authorities can clamp down on these inconsiderate individuals. Taking full responsibility of your dog is mandatory to any dog owner and not doing so is highly irresponsible. DNA testing has really started to take on new dimensions and unimagined uses- a dog stool DNA test can accurately link the DNA in a stool back to its dog and if the dog is registered as belonging to an owner- back to its owner.

Some labs have even gone as far as to develop a specific test that links the DNA in the poo back to its owner. If the government has a database with the entire dog’s DNA of a given area, town or city then catching these felons will not be hard. The poo can be collected with a swab and placed in a suitable container which can be provided by the lab that will do the testing.

The dog poo DNA test can help solve many issues but of course, some argue about the issues: if dog owners do not pick up their dog poo, would a random passerby?

DNA and paternity testing

paternity DNA Testing with Saliva

DNA is found throughout all nucleated cells in the body. Only cells containing a nucleus contain the necessary genetic material for a paternity test. Paternity testing with blood is thus accurate because blood contains white blood cells in large numbers and these cells are ideal for extracting DNA. Moreover, in the days when DNA testing was still evolving, scientists needed to work with very large numbers of cells whilst today it is possible to work with far smaller samples with equal success.

Saliva paternity testing offers a very high success rate. This sample is collected by means of a simple mouth swab which is rubbed for ten seconds on the inside of the mouth. The rubbing inside the mouth causes exfoliated cheek cells to stick to the swabs. These cells are just as good as blood cells for a paternity test.

Paternity testing with blood: The two main blood samples

One can either submit blood stains which may have been collected from a wound onto a Kleenex or perhaps a bandage. These can simply be sent in a paper envelope. However, the chances of a laboratory successfully extracting DNA from the sample is 75%.

The other option is to have a medical blood draw. This means making an appointment with a doctor or clinic, waiting rooms and queues and moreover, dealing with dread many people feel when having their vein punctured with a needle. Children may be particularly distressed by this procedure. The success rate with a medical blood draw is 95%.

Advantages of a saliva paternity test over a paternity test with blood

The main reason for choosing saliva is the ease and painlessness of collecting the sample, the costs and medical appointments saved and the very high success rate-95%- of this sample.

Blood can also be an issue if you need to send it by post for laboratory testing. The postal services are very weary of blood- is it pathogen free? Is it packed in the right leak-proof container cushioned with the right material?

A paternity test with blood has become discouraged for very valid reasons- there is no reason to opt for this sample when one can easily opt for a paternity test with saliva.

If the dad has just passed away and not buried you may consult a forensic pathologist to collect DNA samples, typically nails or hairs can be used. Hairs would need to have the root or follicle and thus, they would need to be plucked out. Usually around 4-6 hairs will suffice.

If the father has been buried things become harder. However, you can still do a DNA testing on deceased father even if the corpse is buried. You need to get permission for an exhumation but once you have done this, a forensic doctor can take the necessary bone samples from the corpse of the alleged father and send these for testing. Typically, 2 grams of bone are used taken either from the humus or femur. Teeth can also be used assuming he does not have dentures.

If the father has been buried, you could also consider whether you may have any DNA samples such as a hair brush or toothbrush belonging to the deceased; since getting an exhumation is so costly and tedious, this is definitely worth considering.

Another option for DNA testing if the father is dead is doing an avuncular test; for example a test with the alleged father’s brother or sister; a grandparents test or a DNA sibling test. These tests will never give as high a probability as a paternity test with the father’s samples but can still, nevertheless, give you a conclusive answer.

DNA testing if the father is deceased can thus be done and there are many options available.

The home paternity test is not strictly done at home from beginning to end. In fact, you will actually only be collecting your own samples at home. You will need to send off your DNA samples for laboratory analysis anyway. To be able to collect your DNA samples, the DNA testing company you choose will send you an at home paternity testing kit. Inside the kit you will find the oral swabs you need to collect the samples. Oral swabs are easy to use and are absolutely painless. The swab is rubbed in the mouth for ten seconds, then left to dry and that’s it- you have collected your DNA sample. The at home test is cheaper than the legal paternity test but is equally accurate and reliable.

Where to do a paternity test: is it always done at home?

The at home paternity test is the first option and the best one to go for in most cases. However, if you are seeking to do a legal DNA paternity test this means you are opting to take things to court and require the result to be court admissible. You will probably need this test if your need to:

• Get alimony payments
• Have the biological father registered on a birth certificate
• Visitation disputes
• And other related reasons

If you need to know where to a do legal paternity you will have everything explained. This test is not done at home; in fact you will need to have your DNA samples taken by someone else- however, not anyone will do.

• Normally a neutral third party will be needed such as a doctor or nurse.
• This person will need to authenticate all the samples to ensure that the samples submitted for testing are from the people who are involved in the test.

These are the two main answers to the question “where to do a paternity test”; of course, many clinics and hospitals offer this test as well however, costs can be very high.

Unlike most fathers however, Ethelbert did not run out to get a DNA testing kit for a paternity test; for him, this white baby was undoubtedly his and the fact that it was white was just a little trick that our genes can play in very rare and unexpected cases. Another couple, Ben and Angela have also been through a similar experience, their son, Nmcachi Ihegboro, was not only white but much to the surprise of his parents, blonde with blue eyes. Moreover, after examing and tracing their genealogy they found they had no white ancestry.

From a genetic perspective, scientists know very little regarding which genes are involved in such cases and they are carrying out a number of DNA tests with Nmcachi’s DNA hoping to discover which genes might be activated and how such phenomena occur. There is much research going on about our junk DNA, the DNA which accounts for 98% of our genetic make-up and which until recently was thought to have little use. The first thought to spring to mind that would be a simple clear-cut conclusion to the case is that in both cases the children are albinos; doctors have however excluded this possibility as the white colour is not due to lack of pigmentation and their eyes are also coloured (typically albinos would have red eyes).

Ethelbert says he was very happy at when he says his son for the first time; doctors expected him to be shocked but he was not. He talks of a cousin back in Africa who is also white but born to black parents.
Elated by the birth of his son and aware of the surprises our genes can bring, he did not want a paternity test. Such cases can and will occur when there are mutations in the genes and dormant genes are activated; how exactly this happens and which genes are responsible will take time and research but we will likely eventually have an answer. A Paternity test is accurate and reliable and such cases as this are, luckily, rare.

Sometimes a legal test can actually be a court-ordered paternity test; in other words, the judge is the one who orders the people involved to take a paternity test. In other cases, the test may actually take place before any court-proceedings have begun.

Clearly, a legal DNA paternity test is done when there are issues of for example child custody or visitation. Other reasons include:

• Child maintenance; a father might refuse to provide for a child because he believes that child not to be his.
• Changing the name of the father on a birth certificate.

How is the legal paternity test done?

First and foremost, the legal DNA paternity test comes at a considerably higher cost that the at-home paternity test. This is one good reason to choose the at-home paternity test is you are not sure about the outcome of the test.
The legal paternity test follows what is known as a chain of custody. This means that DNA sampling is done as follows:

• A doctor/qualified nurse or other professional will be appointed to actually take your samples
• The people taking part in the test will not be able to handle their own swabs
• There is a very strict sample verification and authentication process in place; test participants will need to take along identification and photos. The professional involved will need to declare that the people from who the samples have been taken are those who are legitimately involved in the test.

The legal paternity test is thus cheat proof and moreover, ensures that there is no mistake in the DNA sampling.

The island of Haiti is now razed to the sole, overturned and churned by the devastating effects of an earthquake that has killed tens of thousands of people. The children remained in Haiti throughout their lives and were raised by their mother who died in 2004. Evens Colas, a musician, commuted between the US and Haiti where his wife and children lived.   Over the years, he has tried to bring his children over to the USA.
As part of the immigration process and the consequent naturalization of the children meant that he had to prove to the US government that he was the biological father of his children.

Colas was incredulous when he discovered the results of his immigration DNA test for paternity which showed an exclusion of paternity. He was sure these results were erroneous and thus, he took a second DNA paternity test in the hope that the first one may have been wrong. However, the second paternity test also showed an exclusion of paternity and thus, Colas was not the children’s biological father.

The children and Sue, Colas’ second wife, remain living in Haiti. Given the results of the immigration test, Colas could not bring the two children back into the US.  The US government told him that he could return to Haiti and adopt the children. He could then have full rights over the children as their father. However, in Haiti, he was told by officials that he cannot adopt his own children and they were not interested in paternity DNA test results. The Haitian governments are only interested in what is on the birth certificate of the children. The US government wants him to adopt these children that the Haitian government tells him are already his. The issue is mind boggling to say the least. For those like Colas who are in the situation, it is highly stressful and frustrating.

Should some changes be done to immigration policies in the US and other Western countries? Everything is affected by long, convoluted bureaucratic red tape. Should the results of a paternity DNA test have mattered in such a situation in which someone that is not the biological father has brought up the children and was registered on their birth certificate? Immigration DNA testing has been a traumatic experience for Colas and still his case has not been solved

DNA fingerprinting (sometime referred to as DNA profiling and more commonly simply as DNA testing) finds use in paternity DNA testing and relationship tests. Criminal investigations in which DNA analysis can help link the crime to the perpetrator also rely on genetic fingerprinting. The term fingerprinting, of course draws upon traditional methods of identification using the prints from our fingers. The ridges and contours on our finger tips are unique and a reliable means of identifying a person; however, in cases of criminal investigations, a fingerprint can be unreliable unless one is able to have prints from all ten fingers.

DNA fingerprinting by far outshines actual fingerprinting from our fingertips. Analyzing specific repeats on a DNA sequence allows for extremely precise identification of individuals. Moreover, the issue of heredity means that parents and children as well as relatives will share certain repeats which make it possible to determine whether people are truly related or not; thus, we can carry out paternity tests and relationship DNA tests with a high rate of success. This is of course something that fingerprints cannot do as our fingerprint patterns are not entirely determined by our genes but rather are formed during gestation.

In forensic DNA analysis DNA finger printing is an indispensable tool. DNA can be found in a single hair (assuming there is the root), a nail, a piece of skin, a tissue left at the crime scene and a host of other samples which could all potentially be very valuable DNA sources. It can identify criminals but also corpses that have deteriorated beyond any possible physical recognition.

It is important to understand however, that although DNA is very reliable, it works in terms of probability. Scientists cannot be absolute and say that a particular DNA profile belongs exclusively and solely to one individual. It will, nevertheless, establish the probability that DNA sample X belongs to person Y with such high probabilities that one is left without shadow of a doubt that the DNA sample belongs to that person. Using DNA fingerprints is indeed outstandingly reliable.