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Genetic DNA Testing: Its Uses and Benefits

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Due to recent advances in scientific knowledge and high technology, DNA genetic testing is now developed and commonly used by most people. The DNA test is relatively used for paternity testing, testing for various genetic disorders during pregnancy, and for forensic investigations.

Paternity testing is used to establish who the biological father of a child is. Sometimes, when parents are in doubt about paternity of a child, this can affect their relationship and in order to have peace of mind, subject the father to DNA testing. It is important to know child paternity for legal considerations such as who will be placed as father in the birth certificate, who will be giving financial support and for the mere reason of who will the child recognize as father as soon as he grows up.

Genetic DNA testing is done by collecting a sample of the father’s, mother’s and child’s DNA, this can be done through home DNA testing, using painless and easy procedure by getting a swab of their skin inside their cheek. This is then compared accurately and of utmost security in DNA testing labs. This is a method of verifying paternity that is a lot more accurate than older methods.

Genetic DNA testing is also a great help in creating accurately your family tree as well as a sure way of verifying family history. This method studies part of the Y chromosome that changes slowly through the generations which will be used to compare to others. Ancestral lines are established when people will show similar characteristics in certain places of this specific chromosome. This method is also similar to genetic testing for ancestry, used to determine what percentage of each race group is present in your DNA. Doing this ancestral genetic test in DNA laboratories or home DNA testing is an accurate service to test your ancestry and determine your race history.

Prenatal genetic testing may also be used to determine paternity and also to discover a number of diseases or health problems which the child may contact in his lifetime, and this test is done before a child is born. These diseases may be related to an abnormality in the DNA and the DNA test is a sure determinant of whether there is a possibility of the child being sick to forewarn the parents of what to do for their child.

Genetic DNA testing are done with several purpose and uses in individuals but all of these provide accurate results conclusive of establishing paternity, maternity, genealogy ancestry and possible DNA health problems.