Today’s technology allows DNA testing labs to provide non-invasive DNA testing using buccal swabs. Buccal swab DNA tests have many benefits over blood samples. They are easy to transport, easy to store, painless to collect, and as accurate as any blood sample. The benefits are leading to decreasing prices to consumers because of more efficient shipping and testing methods. However, DNA collection using buccal swabs still raises concerns among many consumers.

Many people still feel that DNA testing using a blood sample is the only accurate way of testing for relationships. We receive calls from clients who have completed non-invasive buccal swab tests with us. They don’t believe the test results and want to do the testing again using blood samples.

Non-invasive DNA testing using buccal swabs is as accurate as DNA testing using blood samples.

The AP reported today that scientists in Rome are attempting to gain clearance into Leonardo Da Vinci’s alleged burial site. The purpose is to perform carbon and DNA testing to determine two things:

1. If the body is that of Da Vinci

2. If the Mona Lisa is a self portrait

Wow.

I don’t think exhuming a body that has been buried for almost 500 years will provide any evidence to support either of their goals. The likelihood of obtaining DNA is EXTREMELY rare. The best place to check would be a molar or femur. The DNA is likely degraded by now. Even if they do get a DNA sample, what will they compare it to? Without a known Da Vinci reference sample there’s nothing they can do to identify him using DNA.

On to goal number 2. These scientists think they can reconstruct Da Vinci’s bone structure using the remains, and figure out if the Mona Lisa is actually a self portrait.

My suggestion: Look at some actual portraits of Da Vinci.

Leave the guy alone.

There are a lot of mothers and potential fathers who want to complete a paternity test without the other parent knowing. If you are a parent who wants a confidential paternity test, then this post is for you.

Step 1

Collect the DNA samples. The most cost effective way to do this is with a buccal swab or    Q-tip. If you are the potential father, and the child is too young to know, then this is your best option. Use 4 Q-tips for yourself and 4 for the child. With a firm scraping motion, twirl the swab on the inside of the cheek. The purpose is to obtain skin cells from the inside of the cheek, not saliva. Scrape each swab for 20 seconds, making sure to cover the entire swab. Collect two swabs from each cheek. Place the swabs in a paper envelope. Label the envelope clearly with the name of the participant, whether the participant is the father or child, and what race the participant is.

*Note: Do not store swabs in plastic bags or other plastic materials. This promotes moisture and bacteria, which can damage the DNA.

If you are the mother and do not want to collect swabs from the father, or if swabs are not available, you can collect DNA using other methods. Look for something that is handled often by the person you want to test, and only by that person. Do not get a sample that is handled by more than one person, as this will cause a mixture. Again, put the samples in a paper envelope or bag, label the envelope clearly.

*Note: Good samples for private paternity tests can be a razor blade, toothbrush, cigarette butt, hat, or hair from the root. Cut hair will not contain DNA.

Step 2

Choose a laboratory to send the samples. You can choose the lab based on price, turnaround time, experience, accreditations, customer service, or a combination of those characteristics.

Different labs will have varying procedures for private paternity testing.

*Note: Private paternity testing is not allowed in New York State. You must get a legally admissible test if you live in New York.

Step 3

Ship the samples to the lab. Make sure to include contact information. Since you want the testing to be private, be careful what information you provide. You may want to speak with a customer service representative at the lab to discuss payment and results reporting.

Step 4

Wait for your results. Results are available anywhere between 1 business day and 8 weeks, depending on which company you hire to complete the paternity test. Keep in mind that the results you receive will NOT be court admissible since they were not collected by an unbiased third party.

Learn more about a private paternity test or legal paternity test.

The USCIS has decided to change procedures in many of the foreign countries who suggest DNA testing for family based immigration cases.

In the past, U.S. DNA labs have sent testing supplies to physicians, who are authorized by the U.S. Embassy to perform DNA collections. In a slow moving process, U.S. Embassies across the globe are beginning to perform DNA collections at the Embassy itself, essentially cutting the physicians out of the loop.

This has caused significant delays in the DNA testing process for many families trying to immigrate to the U.S. We’ve noticed about 3 month delays with most countries making the transition. In addition, U.S. Embassies are not as equipped for DNA testing as the physicians.

For example, the Clinica Abreu, an authorized collection facility in the Dominican Rebublic, could handle more than 25 DNA cases each day. Now that testing has moved to the Embassy, DNA test appointments are limited to 10 cases.

The purpose of this change is to prevent any potential fraud. Although this may be effective at preventing this fraud, it is also creating a large time delay for many families who have been waiting years to see their loved ones.

View the immigration DNA testing procedures.

Evidence is coming out that DNA testing is sometimes wrong. What is considered by most people in the general public to be foolproof, DNA test results are assisting in the wrongful convictions of innocent citizens and contributing to child support payments for men who are not biological fathers. There are two reasons for bad DNA testing results; poor testing methods and poor interpretation.

60 minutes reported on a man who was wrongly convicted of rape and sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Houston crime lab said his DNA profile matched that of an evidence sample found at the crime scene. It turns out the profiles didn’t match at all. The test results were interpreted wrong.

DNA testing results show a series of peaks, which need to be interpreted manually by a  trained scientist. The machines that produce the data do not produce the final results. When you get a scientist who is undertrained or under the watchful eye of biased parties, it’s easy to get wrong results.

Cross contamination can occur during evidence collection or DNA testing. This is another leading cause of poor results. Evidence samples mix with reference samples or other evidence samples. It ruins the whole test.

Laboratories have been knows to mix standard paternity testing samples in child support cases, leading to false exclusions. Again, data can be interpreted wrong and produce a false inclusion.

In any regard, it’s of utmost importance to check the qualifications and methods of any DNA testing laboratory you choose to use for testing. There are plenty of reputable labs out there. There are also plenty of labs like Houston.

A man sent us an email over the weekend because he wanted to know if he was the father of a child. He hasn’t taken a paternity test yet, but he knows the blood types of himself, the mother and the child. Based on those blood types he wants to know if he can still be the father. Surely this man is not the only person with this question, so I’ll answer the question publicly.

Blood type antigens are inherited from the father and the mother. Depending on the blood types of these individuals it is sometimes possible to exclude an alleged father. However, it is never possible to prove paternity. Blood typing, based on the ABO blood group system is not an accurate method for determining paternity.

Blood typing is useful for predicting potential paternity situations, but it is not useful for a legal determination of paternity.

This specific case is as follows:

Potential Father: O

Mother: B

Child: AB

Using the chart to the right, we can determine that the potential father is excluded from being the father. ABO blood typing can exclude roughly 30% of the male population from being the possible father.

I read an Associated Press article today, posted on miamiherald.com called, “Lugo accepts DNA test for third paternity claim”. Until recent years, paternity suits have had a stereotype of being delegated only to middle or lower class families, and are associated with the terms “child support” and “deadbeat dad”. A list of recent paternity suits that have reached the public eye has changed all that. Take the following list of names I pulled off the top of my head:

1. Keanu Reeves
2. Jude Law
3. Eddie Murphy
4. John Edwards
5. Larry Birkhead

For a longer list, check out this celebrity paternity cases article. You’ll see that this has been happening for a long time.

The DNA test being required of Paraguay President Lugo is more surprising, however than all these others. At least to me. The AP reported that Lugo is a former priest, who resigned in only 2004 to get into politics. Talk about a mid-life crisis. This paternity suit is actually Lugo’s third. The first occurred while he was bishop of San Pedro. Now, I don’t know all the rules of being a bishop, so I won’t make any snap judgments to this claim. I don’t believe these claims have been substantiated.

This leads me to my point that many of these celebrities are being thrust into the negative light of paternity suits for many reasons. Some, maybe Lugo, because they actually fathered children to women who either want financial support or a father figure for the child, or both. Others, like Keanu, were targeted purely for financial reasons (the DNA test showed he did not father any of the woman’s 4 children).

What I’m getting at is paternity suits and DNA tests are not restricted to the lower class. U.S. DNA labs tested over 300,000 samples in 2007, the last reported year. That number is expected to grow.

In any case, these matters should remain out of the public eye. They should be kept behind closed courtroom doors to be worked out between the parties involved. I say this as I feed the media frenzy with my blog post. I suppose I am as anxious as anyone to see how Lugo’s DNA test results come out. At least he’s not going on Maury.

Reuters reported yesterday that the U.S. will implement strict DNA Testing guidelines for Guatemala Adoption cases, due to an increase in child trafficking. In the past, Guatemala has been a huge source of child adoptions by U.S. citizens. More recently, adoptions have been ceased because of child trafficking and fraud. DNA testing guidelines will be a large step in curtailing this problem.

According to adoption.com, DNA testing must be completed prior to adoption approval by a company authorized by the U.S. A maternity test will be completed between the mother and child being put up for adoption.

The second phase of DNA testing comes when the child arrives in the U.S. A DNA sample must be taken from the child and compared with the DNA profile from the first test to ensure that the child has not been switched.

Although painful for U.S. families trying to adopt and the attorneys going though the steps to help them, DNA testing seems necessary to prevent child trafficking. Families spend upwards of $50,000 to adopt a child from Guatemala. $1000 to complete DNA testing in order to make sure the child is willingly being given up by the mother seems like a small price to pay.

Be on the lookout for more posts about the procedures for completing DNA testing for Guatemala adoptions.

An informed gentleman from New York called the office this morning. He is petitioning to bring his mother to the U.S. She lives outside Lagos, Nigeria and has an interview at the U.S. Embassy next week. He has heard from friends that the U.S. Embassy may request an immigration DNA test, so he had some questions about the process.

I let him know that the Embassy in Nigeria often requests DNA testing for immigration when the consular officers feel that the families have not provided enough proof of a biological relationship. He wanted to be proactive, but the Embassy says not to complete the testing unless they ask for it. I disagree with that guideline, but there hasn’t been much progress to change it.

If and when the Embassy requests DNA testing for him and his mom, he’ll need to call a DNA company who provides AABB accredited results. He’ll be responsible for all costs included in the procedure; DNA testing, shipping and handling, country fees. His mom will be required to pay a small fee to the Doctor at the U.S. Embassy who collects the sample, but all other fees are paid by the petitioner.

The gentleman was delighted to hear that one company could handle the testing for him in New York and his mom in Nigeria. I was happy that he was happy. I wished him good luck, and hopefully the consular officer will find enough evidence, so a DNA test is not needed. Only time will tell.

For more information about the immigration DNA testing process check out our article, Five Steps of an Immigration DNA Test.

According to AP article, “US mulls DNA tests for some refugees”, the Obama administration is considering restarting a program it implemented in 2007 which required DNA testing for some refugee applicants. This could affect a large number of new I-730 petitions.

The original program in 2007 asked thousands of African refugees to prove relatedness to their family members in the U.S. According to the program results, only 20% of Kenyan cases were able to prove relationships.

The USCIS already requests immigration DNA testing for many family based I-130 petitions. If families are not able to prove relatedness using primary documentation such as birth certificates, or if the immigration officer suspects fraud for a different reason, then DNA testing is requested.

This brings into question the cultural differences in relatedness. While U.S. citizens see only biological relatives as brothers or sisters, it is not always the same in other nations. The issue of cultural difference is resolved with the U.S. immigration rules and regulations for family-based petitions. Rules clearly explain that petitioners and beneficiaries must be biologically related.

DNA testing for refugees, if implemented, will require petitioners to have their DNA collected in the U.S. and the refugee or asylee to be collected at the U.S. Embassy overseas. This testing process must be facilitated by an accredited DNA testing company in the U.S.

In essence, DNA testing for refugees will help enforce immigration law, and it is likely to dishearten many refugee families at the same time.

Picture Credit: Center For Refugee Studies