paternityexpress.com

Did you know that DNA testing can solve the mystery of a person’s parentage as well as tell the maternal lineage and the paternal lineage? A few years ago, scientists solved the mystery of King Tut’s parentage using a series of DNA tests.  DNA was taken from several different mummies including Tutankhamen; only three of the mummies were known for certain.  DNA samples were taken from five of the royal mummies dating back to the 1550-1479 B.C. Yes, before Christ!  Through a series of reconstructive DNA testing we now know who King Tut’s maternal lineage, as well as his paternal lineage, and is now able to identify Tiye, mother of the Pharoh Akhenaten and grandmother of King Tut.  It is amazing that after thousands of years, DNA could be taken from deceased, embalmed, mummies that were thousands of years old and used to establish biological relationships as was the case of King Tut.

If DNA can be taken from samples thousands of years old, think what it can do in cases where a person is alive or recently deceased.  Even when you think your situation is hopeless, it might very well not be there’s always Forensic DNA Testing.  DNA samples are quite often saved in the form of blood cards, forensic tissue, etc., by many medical examiners.  A simple request made by a deceased’s next of kin to the medical examiner’s office will get forensic samples from their loved ones released to our labs; and with the collection of a controlled sample (the child, other relative, another deceased, etc.) used to establish the biological relationship.  Results from these testing may be used for many different purposes such as Social Security benefits, child support, immigration, etc., among other reasons. 

Establishing  paternity, maternity, or some other biological relationship has become quite commonplace.  A simple telephone call to make the request and schedule an appointment, and a few days later and you will have your questions answered conclusively.  Our labs test twice for accuracy; and can tell decisively whether an alleged father is included usually to the degree of 99.99% or excluded 100%.  So, don’t worry, get tested!

After every major disaster, it will need to be proven or disproven which persons died and or whether children who cannot speak for themselves and are being claimed by adults are really biologically related to  that adult.  One of the ways the people in charge can make certain that they are turning over a minor child to a biological relative would be to conduct a DNA test.  There are many DNA tests which can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt whether a biological relationship between claiming parties truly exists.  

How can this be done? Well several ways, including but not limited to Genetic Reconstruction, under which the following testing fall: Paternity DNA testing, Maternity DNA testing, Avuncular DNA testing (using an uncle or aunt) , Siblingship (using known or proven brother or sister), Grandparentage DNA testing (using one or both grandparents). Forensic DNA testing may also be employed to determine whether a deceased person was a child’s actual parent and / or whether a surviving child is truly an orphan or related to a living person who is trying to claim that child.  Recently the earthquake in Haiti has left thousands of children orphans, however, among these children there may be ones who may have a surviving relative, or several surviving relatives.  One can almost be sure that the authorities will rely on DNA testing to prove biological relationships for the smallest ones who cannot speak for themselves to identify their relatives who are trying to claim them. Also, it is almost certain that the government may resort to DNA testing to identify deceased persons.  It is amazing just what a DNA test can reveal!  Genetic reconstruction uses a series of testing to determine whether a child is related to an alleged father’s close relatives. It is an alternate way to determine if a biological relationship exists among the tested parties.  Each person’s DNA profile is unique, but close relatives will share a significant portion of their DNA profiles because of the hereditary nature of DNA.

All that aside, results of genetic reconstruction may also be used as proof in getting Social Security benefit or matters of inheritance claims

Many divorces in the U.S. are the direct results of sexual infidelity by one or both people in a relationship.  The frequency of marital infidelity vary widely, but experts estimates that some 60 percent of husbands and nearly 40 percent of wives have been unfaithful at some point during their marriage.  No one sex has a monopoly on infidelity!

Although stains on female undergarments could be attributable to urine, urinary tract infection, blood, feces or natural vaginal excretions related to menstrual cycle, ovulation, or vaginal infection; some stains on female undergarments could possibly indicate sexual infidelity.  Semen can be deposited on undergarments, panties, bed sheets, clothing upholstered furniture or other surfaces.  For up to 5 days after the sexual act, sperm cells can live in the vagina.  Whether on male undergarment or female undergarment, forensic analysis of suspicious stains would be necessary to determine the origin of suspicious stains.

A Forensic lab would need to analyze any suspicious stains in two stages: screening and DNA analysis.  A Forensic Analyst screens the suspicious stain using a battery of techniques to determine whether there is semen present.  If no evidence of semen is present, on undergarments, or sample presented, then there is no physical evidence of infidelity and, therefore, continued testing is unnecessary.

If the stain is identified as semen, then DNA analysis of  the stain and a reference swab sample from the partner, male or female,  is conducted to determine whether the semen came from the partner or some other unknown person. Stains that are the results of sexual activity are often a mixture of both partners doing the act, male and female DNA or male and male DNA.  Epithelial cells from the vaginal wall, mouth or skin comprises the female DNA.  Suspicious stains are cell typed using differential extraction which takes advantage of each cell’s unique type.  DNA profiles are generated from each extracted stain as well as from the reference sample for the male and / or female.  If the profile from the partner’s sample does not match the DNA from the stain samples presented, then some other man or woman created the stains

Likewise, stains on male undergarments could be an indicator of sexual infidelity with either male or female.  As well staining on male undergarments may be caused by urine, urinary tract infection, feces or semen.  The same type of analyses would need to be done with the known partner’s reference swab to determine whether the partner caused the tested stains.

Garments and or other samples should be stored at room temperature, and sent to the lab in paper bags or envelopes.  Never use plastic bags nor should you refrigerate the sample item.  The partner’s reference should be collected from the cheeks of the mouth using sterile swabs and sent to the lab in its own paper container.

Every now and then there is an amber alert in some state or the other.  A child has gone missing, and sometimes the parent does not have an up-to-date photograph or they are so rattled that they sometimes appear incoherent and does not provide a proper description of their child. Ever heard “a picture is worth a thousand words”? Well we believe a CSIC is worth a million words.  We have had a program in place which has everything your local authorities and even if necessary the FBI can use as a tool.  It prevents precious time being wasted.  If ever you face a situation where your child becomes lost or missing, you simply hand a copy to your local police officials and it has everything they will ever need to identify your child though you may still have to provide a recent photograph of the child if necessary.:  It is a Child Safety Identification Certificate.

Just what is a Child Safety Identification Certificate?  It is a document / certificate which contains the DNA profile of your child and has his or her biographical data, such as full name, date of birth, height, weight, gender, race/ethnicity, hair color, eye color, residence, and a photograph of the child when it was compiled and a consent form which must be signed by a parent.  The photograph of the child will become part of the CSIC which is returned to you. Thereafter, parents are urged to take a photograph at least once each year if the child is over 15 years old but at least every 3 months if the child is age 0 to 15 and keep it with their CSIC.  Children age 0 to 15 features change dramatically as they grow.  The parent should always keep the CSI updated by keeping the most recent photograph of the child with it and making sure the photograph is updated at least once a year thereafter by photographing the child and keeping the most recent photograph with the CSIC.

Getting a CSIS is a simple, easy, painless procedure.  The DNA Profile for a CSIC is the same as doing a paternity test only there is no alleged father involved or being collected.  Collection is simple and easy; we send you a Child Safety DNA sample collection kit that has specific instructions for completing the enclosed form and two cotton swabs which should be used to collect specimen from inside the cheeks of your child’s mouth.  This can be done from the privacy of your own home (you can do the collection yourself, or you can bring your child into a center or have a technician come to your home to have it done).  You then sent the samples to our AABB Approved testing labs.  Just like in the paternity test, the child’s samples are profiled and a certificate containing all the information you provided and the photograph is sent back to you.  Nothing is kept by our lab just a record of the child’s profile if you should ever need an additional copy.  Processing of the CSIC takes approximately 5 business days.

Personal information you provide about your child will never be used or released without your express written consent.  The laboratory will store the samples for up to 6 months and they will store the laboratory results for at least 5 years or 7 years for New York Residents.

Most people simply file their petition for a relative who resides in a country outside of the United States and its holdings.  They complete the necessary forms required by Immigration / Homeland Security and they pay the required fees.  Immigration / Homeland Security acknowledges their petition by sending them a receipt which contains the “case number” which must be referred to every time one has to correspond with the consulate or Homeland Security, every time you contact them whether in writing or by the telephone.  It is most important to always have this case number as it is in your best interest.  Immigration / Homeland Security deals with millions of cases each year and that is the only way they will know who you are and to which case you refer every time you contact them.  Homeland Security / Immigration then asks you to provide several pieces of documentation which establishes that the petitioner (the person making the request or asking permission to bring another person into the country)  has the right to make this request.

The petitioner is then asked to prove one of several things 1) they are a legal resident of the United States [a green card holder]; 2) they are a citizen of the United States, either by birth or by naturalization; or 3) their petition meets with the refugee guidelines or some other guidelines whereby the sponsor themselves were granted refugee or some other permanent status and has the documents they were given then to prove it.  Quite often if those documents do not satisfy the consulate, then the consulate may ask for several additional items, including but not limited to DNA Testing.  The sort of DNA testing requested will depend upon the case itself and can range from a Maternity DNA Test; a Paternity DNA Test; or some other relationship testing which they will specify in their correspondence with the beneficiary.

The requesting Consulate /  Homeland Security will make their request in writing, setting forth additional guidelines one of which is that only an AABB-Certified laboratory in the United States should perform the testing.  They will further stipulate that, the resulting DNA Report must be sent back to the requesting entity directly from the AABB Certified Lab.  The results of the DNA testing is used to establish a biological relationship with the sponsor who is the person who is asking them to grant residency to the person who wants to come into the country [also referred to as the beneficiary].  Our lab knows how critical this request is and testing is done immediately upon receipt of the samples.   A report is then sent directly back to the requesting agency and the participants will be sent a file copy of what was sent to the Consulate or Homeland Security.  The file copy sent to petitioner and beneficiary is simply for their personal use, and must never be presented to immigration.  This copy, however, may be used in any other court proceedings as it is a legal document and will be recognized as such by a court of law.

There are thousands of adoptions each year in the United States, and inter-country adoptions accounts for quite a bit of all adoptions.  All combined, there are millions of adopted children now living in the United States.  Quite often, there comes a time in the lives of both adopted children and their biological parents that they want or need to find each other.  Their decision to find each other is varied, but quite often is triggered by some major event in their lives such as marriage or the birth of a child.  In modern medicine, the medical history of biological parents is indispensible in the diagnosis and treatment of disease in descendents.

More and more adoptive families and their representatives use DNA testing at various times during the adoption process, because knowing the biological identity of the child that they are adopting, especially through proper relinquishment, will alleviate some of the stress and uncertainty while raising their newly adopted child.

There also exists a DNA Reunion registry where adoptees and their biological parents may register by submitting to a simple DNA test and creating a profile for themselves.  This DNA test will produce a 16 marker DNA profile which may be input to the DNA Reunion database to search for any possible matches between a parent and an adopted child.  When a genetic match is identified clients are notified.  The profile remains in the database for some five years and is compared to all new profiles for possible matches as they are added.  After then the subject may renew their subscription if they choose to.

DNA Reunion is an advanced technology based registry that uses the power of DNA to reunite birth parents and adoptees. The technology of DNA facilitates reunification without having any biographical information about the birth relative that the adoptee is searching for.

A Twin zygosity test determines definitively whether twins are identical or fraternal.  Using ultrasound examination of the placenta, an OB-GYN doctor may be able to tell whether twins are identical or fraternal.  After twins are born, a pathological examination of the placenta can also be conducted to determine zygosity.  However, scientists recommend DNA testing to determine zygosity, as studies have revealed that either method is not 100% accurate.  Occasionally when medical records regarding zygosity is lost, or unavailable, or when the twins physical characteristics vary and are different as they grow a zygosity test will reveal whether they are actually identical or fraternal.  Only a twin zygosity test that compares the twins DNA profiles to see whether they match exactly can conclusively answer that question: an exact match means that the twins are identical.

Identical Twins twins come from one fertilized egg, known as a zygote. The zygote, which usually develops into one child, grows and divide early in development stage to form two embryos which results in dentical twins. Because the twins come from one egg and one sperm, they have exactly the same DNA.

Fraternal Twins on the flip side of this Fraternal twins develop when there are two different eggs in the mother’s womb that are fertilized by two different sperms. Fraternal twins will not have exactly the same DNA, although like other siblings, they can be expected to share some of the DNA they inherit from both parents

The results of a twin zygosity test may be used to satisfy one’s curiosity and assist in health problems for the twins later in life or as they grow up. For example, if one twin twin should ever need an organ or tissue transplant the other twin would be a perfect donor as they share identical DNA.

DNA identification is quickly becoming a crime solving tool.  Law enforcement agencies have created a database of criminal offenders which they use to link criminals and suspects to unsolved crimes.  All fifty U.S. states have passed laws which requires DNA profiling of some offenders.  And law enforcement officials want to compile DNA profiles of everyone who is arrested.  At the same time, defense attorneys are using DNA profile to challenge old convictions.  With the advent of DNA testing, many, many former death row inmates and inmates charged with crimes such as rape or molestation have been freed using DNA technology.  DNA evidence speaks for itself.  DNA profiling also referred to as genetic fingerprinting evolved from a questionable forensic innovation to a powerful and widely accepted tool for identification in criminal investigations and prosecutions.  DNA profiling was used in many cases in the U.S. to exonerate former defendants who were wrongfully convicted for crimes they never committed.  DNA evidence is one of the most accurate technology of this century having the remarkable ability to exonerate innocent people while at the same time convict the guilty.  DNA analysis is also being used on plants and animals, and is being touted as the greatest advancement in forensic science to date.

Employers and insurance companies could use this technology to uncover an employee’s predisposition to disease and use the information to exclude that person from employment or insurance coverage.  The same biological sample used for DNA paternity analysis can likewise be used for other biological analysis of that person.

Because DNA is the building block from which all living things develop, variations in this sequence allow forensic DNA analysts to differentiate one person from another and one animal from another.  In 1999, a jury convicted two people of harboring a vicious animal after the couple’s pit bull mauled their 74-year-old neighbor.  Canine DNA extracted from saliva samples on the victim’s clothing matched the genetic profile of the accused couple’s dog.

Likewise, more and more people are requesting infidelity DNA testing which falls under the forensic DNA testing umbrella, of various items, from condoms to clothing to samples cut from items too large to send in to a lab for analysis.  One only need call our labs to ensure that their unusual item can be tested.  Analysis is fast and accurate, and if a comparison sample is sent in to our lab, we can tell whether the profile from the article or item of clothing matches the profile of the comparison sample  On a recent intake call with a client she told us: “I don’t get mad, I use DNA testing”.

We came across a case the other day where the father of a 20 year old young man and his three older siblings were requested by the immigration / consulate in their country to do a paternity test to establish a biological relationship to the person (the only father they had known all their lives) who was sponsoring them for permanent residence into the U.S.; they needed immigration paternity testing. Twenty years ago, paternity testing was not as common, available or as affordable as it is now.  Testing was completed, and as it turns out, a biological relationship could be established with the three older siblings (the man had indeed sired the older boys) they belonged to the tested father, however a biological relationship could not be established between the man and the 20 year old; results of the 20 year old was and exclusion (the alleged father was not his biological father). This presented a quandary for this family. 

Most recently we did another test for a young man, seventeen going on eighteen who would be graduating from high school shortly and would be entering into the armed forces, his girlfriend, had just given birth to what he believed to be his child.  He wanted to provide support and medical benefits for the child he would be leaving behind for some timd.  However, his mother insisted that he do a DNA paternity test, because the army would need some form of documentation as proof that he was the biological father of this child he was claiming to be his and would be putting on his benefits plan.  Both parents and the child participated in the paternity test and three days later the young man found he was not the biological father of the newborn.

In the former case, the science was not yet available and as readily affordable to the common man, in the latter it was.  In either case hearts were broken but they both fathers knew where they stood. 

DNA Paternity testing is now so easily available and affordable to everyone who needs it, it baffles one that it is not being used even more that it is.  Because it is so easily arranged, a simple telephone call, whereby you answer a few questions and you can secure an appointment for testing with results in as little as three days; even in as little as 24 hours if one is willing to pay for the faster service.  Although the younger generation is more savvy, they are using this science more and more to protect themselves and their assets.  No longer should one guess or accuse, simply arrange for testing to be done.  Even when an alleged father is deceased or otherwise unavailable for sample collection, through the use of reconstructive DNA testing such as grandparentage testing, avuncular testing, among others are available.

So, no one need harbor doubts, they simply use the science to find out.

Maternal and Paternal Lineage DNA Testing: Ancestry DNA Testing - relies on portions of human DNA which passes from parents to children basically unchanged through many generations. For the paternal line the Y chromosome passed from father to son is examined. For the maternal line the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) passed from a mother to all her children should be examined.

By examining these key parts of one’s DNA, one’s paternal and maternal history could be traced as far back as the first peoples who populated the earth. Scientific data shows that modern humans evolved in Africa some 400,000 to 130,000 years ago, and started migrating to other parts of the globe.

During this migration, subtle changes in the Y chromosome and the mtDNA which are the genetic markers developed as groups settled in the different areas of the world. Now, we carry those markers within our own DNA.  As a result of this, it is possible to ascertain our ancestors’ geographical beginnings with a simple mouth swab of one cheeks.

Maternal Lineage DNA Testing can trace one’s maternal lineage thereby determining what one’s ancient maternal ancestors’ most likely migration route would have been and the haplogroup to which they belonged.

Paternal Lineage DNA Testing helps one trace one’s paternal lineage thereby determining what one’s ancient paternal ancestors’ most likely migration route would have been and the haplogroup to which they belonged.

Native American Studies falls within Ancestry Testing.  DNA testing in Native American communities can be a valuable tool, when used in a manner which protects the tribe’s best interests. The technology of DNA testing provides accessible, accurate, affordable, and beneficial DNA Testing of all sorts to the Native American community.  A DNA test can provide valuable information about biological relationships between living tribal members and individuals claiming to be members of the tribe and wanting to enroll for tribal membership which provides certain benefits to members. Many Native American tribes now use DNA Tests to establish paternity, and provide supporting evidence for enrollment or dis-enrollment to the tribe; reunite children who were adopted out with their biological relatives, and claim child support and other benefits.