Groshan Fabiola asked:

You may have heard a lot about DNA over the years.  Recently, it's become a staple of different legal and crime solving shows.  The DNA often ends up being the one piece of crucial evidence that solves the murder and saves the day.  They say that the DNA never lies.  Well, that part is true, although the rest of it may be over-dramatized a bit.  The DNA doesn't ever lie, even though it may not actually be the overwhelming fool-proof answer that you might have been led to believe it is.  While never lying, this little genetic code can't go as far as to point the finger, only to confirm or deny a match.  Because of this fact, samples are often needed for DNA testing, as a DNA strand contains your entire genetic code within itself, mapping out a blueprint that is completely original to you while still carrying all of the information that can help point the way to your roots.

A paternity test is a common reason for DNA testing to take place.  You can use one of these tests for either personal knowledge or legal matters, giving yourself and the world the knowledge of the truth.  It will work as either a yes or no answer, there is no hazy gray area.  An accurate paternity test will either grant a 99.99% chance that the person in question is in fact the father of the child or give a 100% certainty that they are not.  A DNA test will generally be conducted using a standard cheek swab, sometimes with a regular cotton swab and, depending on the company testing, sometimes with a specially made swab of a certain material.  This DNA sample will then be added into a special chemical to trigger a Polymerase Chain Reaction.  This reaction identifies 16 specific locations within the DNA strand and these locations are analyzed to compose a DNA profile, which serves as a form of fingerprint.  These “fingerprints” can then be compared to the results of the other test to determine the probability of paternity.

As stated, these tests will either determine the answer of the paternity question with a yes or a no.  Results are generally considered to be conclusive and are not questionable.  In legal matters, paternity testing is taken as incontrovertible truth and the results of such must be followed by law.  However, DNA tests don't always have to be used for such grave purposes.  They can also provide a form of entertainment when you use them to trace your ancestry back through time.

Ancestry testing won't provide a family tree.  It's not a process that is that detailed.  What it will do is map out the DNA structure of your genetics, however, and tell you where the roots of your genetics come from.  Different forms of ancestry testing are available, some of the most common testing either Y-DNA or mtDNA strands.  Y-DNA makes use of the Y chromosome, obviously only present in males, and will use this to test your paternal ancestry back to some of its roots.  These roots will often present themselves in the form of a geographic location common with ancestry tracing, pointing you to roots in either a European, East Asian, Sub-Saharan African, or a Native American region.  The mtDNA tests provide the same sort of tracing, only though the maternal side, showing the roots of your mother's family history.  In either case, an informative and very fun time awaits you with any form of ancestry DNA testing.

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J.J. Yong asked:

Paternity test could be done much simpler when DNA samples were secretly obtained from other persons’ personal belongings such as toothbrush, comb and bandages.

It sounds sneaky to obtain other persons’ DNA samples by this methods but these methods are best way of getting DNA samples for DNA testing without upsetting or unnecessary provoke other persons.

How do we get the samples of DNA of other persons?

Step 1 - Look out for the toothbrush…

Discreet samples from the toothbrush or used bandaged can be sent to distinctive DNA testing centers but earlier it must be put in the large or regular envelope. Seal the envelope tightly with cellophane tape or paper glue. The best DNA test results are normally obtained from toothbrush.

Step 2: Locate suitable DNA testing center

Find one suitable DNA testing center to have the DNA sample analyzed for accurate results. Choose any DNA testing center according to your desirable locations. If you could not find any one of these centers in your area, try to look out for one via internet search.

Most of the DNA testing centers offer free DNA testing kits that available for people from all over the world. In this case, you will be charged for a small fee for postage fees. The results will be sent to you via mail, email and phone.

Make sure you read the terms and conditions of the chosen DNA testing center to clarify the agreement between the DNA testing center and their clients. It is advisable that you should have the habit of reading and understand the terms of conditions of the company’s service before you make a decision.

Step 4: Start “Window Shopping”

“Window-shopping” for DNA testing centers is a must because DNA testing is indeed a competitive market and most of these DNA testing centers have already started to have promotional packages that give discounts to their first and frequent clients.

Hence, DNA testing is getting simpler and fast because of the improving cutting-edge DNA testing technology.

Step 5: Educate yourself about basics of DNA testing

You need to have some brief understanding on how DNA testing actually works. Basically, there are several methods in DNA testing in determining various kinds of relationships such as paternity test, siblings test, ancestry DNA test, and also twin zygosity test.

You will encounter some biological terms in your DNA testing report and do not hesitate to ask DNA testing consultants for questions.

When you have familiarized with all of these five steps above, start taking DNA sample secretly and send it to your preferable DNA testing center as soon as possible.

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Alex Blake asked:

DNA testing is done for many different reasons. DNA evidence can link an alleged criminal to a crime scene. DNA paternity and maternity testing can identify a child's father or mother. DNA relationship testing can determine if two individuals are full or half siblings. DNA ancestry testing can determine ethnic origins and genealogical roots.

How DNA testing is done depends on the results desired and the samples available. DNA fingerprinting (or profiling as it's also known) is the process of analyzing and comparing two DNA samples. Only identical twins have the exact same DNA sequence, everyone else's DNA is unique. This makes DNA the perfect way to link individuals to each other or to locations where they have been.

The entire DNA chain is incredibly long, much to long to examine all of it. Human DNA is made up of about 3.3 billion base pairs. The differences between DNA samples occur only in small segments of the DNA--the rest of the DNA is pretty much the same. DNA testing focuses on those segments that are known to differ from person to person.

As DNA testing has evolved over time, the testing methods have become more precise and are able to work with much smaller DNA samples. Early DNA testing was done using dime-size drops of blood. Today's tests can extract DNA from the back of a licked stamp. The DNA must be extracted from whatever sample is provided. DNA must be isolated and purified before it can be compared. In essence, it has to be "unlocked" from the cell in which it exists. The cell walls are usually dissolved with a detergent. Proteins in the cell are digested by enzymes. After this process, the DNA is purified, concentrated, and tested.

DNA testing is done most often today using a process called "short tandem repeats," or STR. Human DNA has several regions of repeated sequences. These regions are found in the same place on the DNA chain, but the repeated sequences are different for each individual. The "short" tandem repeats (repeated sequences of two to five base pairs in length) have been proven to provide excellent DNA profiling results. STR is highly accurate--the chance of misidentification being one in several billion.

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Groshan Fabiola asked:

DNA works as a blueprint to our genetics, spelling out exactly who and what we are.  Our DNA serves as a guide and by following certain connections, we can look at this blueprint and figure out certain things about ourselves.  This is especially helpful in cases of legal matters, such as paternity testing.  Using state of the art DNA testing, investigators can look into the building blocks of our genetic structure and figure out the undeniable truth about who we are.

Currently, the standards of DNA testing are so high that it is possible for technicians to evaluate our DNA so thoroughly that it can distinguish us as completely unique individuals.  We can be identified to such an exact degree that investigators can distinguish us from every other person who has ever lived on this planet.  All it requires is a single root of hair, as well.  One follicle of hair left behind can register us as a unique and separate organism forever.

Our DNA resides in every nucleated cell of our bodies, making every single individual cell of our bodies belong entirely to us.  While traditional blood analysis testing can differentiate us as one between thousands of people, DNA testing allows us to be identified as one between billions of people.  For this reason, DNA testing is considered to be the most accurate form of identification which is available with today's technology.  Considering that all that is needed for accurate DNA testing is nucleated cells, many forms of samples are available for use.  Testing can be conducted on not only hair follicles, but semen, urine, and saliva as well.  Unlike blood testing, DNA has a much longer life than common proteins, allowing testing on strands that not only have been exposed for periods of time, but also strands that have been tampered with by acids, salts, and other forms of bacteria contamination.

In the case of paternity testing, the DNA can accurately match two different strands to enough accuracy to either rule the paternity of one strand out beyond a doubt or to indicate that there is a very high probability about the accuracy of it.  There really is no middle ground with paternity testing, we can be assured of the accuracy of the tests.  There is never a 50% result with the possibility of paternity, results either indicate no chance whatsoever or a 99% assurance that the paternity is accurate.  Because of this, paternity testing has been deemed accurate and legal.  These tests are considered as certifiably sound as lie detector results.

DNA testing has also slowly come to be used as a means of tracing genetics.  Using a single sample of our DNA, specialists can analyze the way that our DNA is built and determine how much of our DNA originated in different areas of the world.  Most companies providing ancestry testing will break the world down into different regions, such as Sub-Saharan African, East Asian, European, and Native American.  These tests can then identify how much of each type of region is located within our DNA, giving us a clearer picture of our roots.  These tests cannot link us to any specific families or individuals throughout history, but they can provide us with a better understanding of how we may have started out and what kind of people we might have descended from.  DNA testing does have a multitude of uses, both legal and entertaining, and we should really consider all of its possibilities to answer some of our questions.

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