Website design By BotEap.comYou can’t watch a police drama on TV or the news (think Anna Nicole Smith) for very long today without hearing about DNA. DNA tests can tell who fathered a child. You can rescue an innocent inmate from prison or prove the case against a criminal. DNA tests can give you insight into certain diseases that you are more likely to develop than other people. DNA can also link you to your ancestors and show you where they might have come from.

Website design By BotEap.comBut what exactly is DNA? Deoxyribonucleic acid is a kind of blueprint for every cell in your body. Your genes are made of DNA. You get half from your mother and half from your father. The only two people who can have identical DNA are identical twins. In all other cases, the DNA is one of the so-called genetic fingerprints. Because it is unique, police and prosecutors seek DNA samples to help catch and convict criminals. In the legal system, DNA samples must be handled with care.

Website design By BotEap.comBut people can do their own DNA testing in the privacy of their own homes. A blood sample is not necessary. All it takes is a few cells from the cheek lining. A scraping of the coating taken with a swab is enough to do a DNA test. It is most commonly used to determine paternity.

Website design By BotEap.comThe test kit can be ordered online or purchased at a pharmacy. The cost of a single paternity test ranges from $100 to $250. You take your own sample and send it to the lab. If you are trying to establish paternity, you also need a cheek swab from the prospective father and from the child. Most labs that do these tests say they can tell you with more than 99% accuracy whether the person in the sample is the father of the child, and 100% if he isn’t.

Website design By BotEap.comThere are also ways to surreptitiously obtain the DNA of the possible father. Laboratories can sometimes test from chewed gum or hair. Every lab is different, and less than perfect samples cost hundreds of dollars more to test.

Website design By BotEap.comWhat else can you do at home? You can try other family relationships if there is any doubt. You can also take a DNA test to investigate your ancestry. The National Geographic Society is even collecting DNA samples from around the world to create a kind of genetic world map. You can participate by taking an at-home DNA test, which costs around $100.

Website design By BotEap.comSome other types of home DNA tests are probably best avoided. One company says it can tell you as early as 7 or 8 weeks into your pregnancy what the sex of your unborn baby will be. Supposedly, this is possible because some of the baby’s blood mixes with the mother’s blood. A blood sample is taken from the mother at home. If the lab finds a Y chromosome in any of the samples, the baby will be a boy, because only boys have a Y chromosome. If no Y chromosome is found, the baby will be a girl. This whole area of ​​DNA testing is unproven, and there are laws at the present time against companies that misreported the sex of the unborn child. There are also ethical questions even if this test is perfect.

Website design By BotEap.comThere is another category of DNA testing, genetic testing for markers of certain medical conditions. Typically, if this type of test is necessary, it will be ordered by your doctor and performed in a certified laboratory to provide accurate results. More importantly, your doctor can advise you on what the test means. If you have a certain gene, you have a higher chance of developing a certain disease. It does not mean you will get the disease, and a negative test does not mean you will not get it.

Website design By BotEap.comYou can do these tests at home. But you won’t have anyone to explain to you what the results really mean. Still, people do these tests, sometimes for privacy, or to prevent health insurance companies from learning the results and perhaps raising their rates. But to test for the right conditions and really understand what the results mean, you should see your doctor or, in some cases, a geneticist.

Website design By BotEap.comAs of today, home DNA testing is best used to determine paternity or other family relationships when there is no legal requirement, or to obtain information about your ancestry.