IDENTIGENE expressly disclaims any and all responsibility for the accuracy and validity of this report. The collection of specimens for the performance of the paternity testing and analysis that forms the basis for this report was not in compliance with IDENTIGENE's established chain of custody guidelines, thus the results of this report can not be considered to be a scientifically accepted paternity test for use in a court of law.

If the DNA test you wish to perform must be legally binding, you should choose to have a legal paternity test performed. If DNA test results are needed for legal purposes, it is necessary that all samples be collected in a fashion that insures a documented “chain of custody.” By this we mean that, in order for IDENTIGENE to issue a report acceptable in a court of law, we must have a method for collecting and testing DNA specimens that enables us to certify that we are reporting genetic test results for the correct individuals. To obtain legally-binding paternity test results, you must arrange to have all specimens collected by an IDENTIGENE specimen collector. This can easily be arranged on-line by completing a request form for a “legally-binding” paternity test (either Trio or Motherless). An IDENTIGENE Case Manager will call you on the next business day to arrange for collection of specimens at a place and time convenient for you.

So, for example, a mother who has Type A blood and a father who has Type O blood could not have a child who has type AB blood. The true father of the child must have the gene for the B antigen. Using RBC antigen systems for paternity testing did not provide for a very powerful test because the frequencies of the genes that coded for the antigens are not very low. Eventually, in the late 1970’s a more powerful test using white blood cell antigens or Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) was developed and added to batteries of RBC antigen tests. This produced a test that was able to exclude about 95% of falsely accused fathers. This pales in comparison to most DNA test batteries presently used for paternity analysis (exclusion powers ranging from 99.9% to 99.9998%). One other requirement for this type of testing is that lots of blood (several milliliters) is required to perform the test. Even the next generation of testing, DNA testing by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, requires a fairly substantial amount (3-5 mls) of blood.

The use of blood for paternity testing is firmly entrenched historically. However, if the analysis is performed strictly by DNA testing, there is no need to obtain the DNA specimen from blood cells (only the white blood cells contain nuclear DNA, by the way, because red blood cells possess no nucleus). All the nucleated cells in your body contain the same DNA, so no matter where on your body we obtain the DNA, we will observe the exact same genotype.

The reason that cheek swabs make excellent specimens for DNA testing is that epithelial cells are constantly being shed from the mucosal layer of the inside of your mouth. In fact, on one correctly collected swab, we obtain close to a million of these cells.

Once the cells have been swabbed from the inside of your mouth, they stick to the cotton tips of the swabs. These swabs are then air-dried which lyses the cells. The dried swabs are packaged in specimen envelopes that contain all necessary identification for the collected individual (Name, Date of Birth, Race, Party in Test). If the specimens are collected by a certified IDENTIGENE specimen collector s/he will also have collected individuals sign their specimen envelope to verify it as their own as well as initial it her/himself to validate the legal chain of custody for the specimens. He/she will also complete an IDENTIGENE Client Authorization form that provides us with the client’s authorization to perform the testing as well as a means of identifying the tested parties by photographs and signatures.