False Exclusion
In a DNA paternity test, a false exclusion is an inaccurate result stating that the tested father is not the biological father of the tested child. In other words, the true biological father is mistakenly told that he is not the father of the child.
Other laboratories can produce false exclusion results for three main reasons: sample mix-ups, sample contamination, and insufficient testing.
A sample mix-up occurs when the samples for one paternity test are accidentally mixed with the samples for another paternity test. Testing an alleged father’s samples against the wrong child’s samples, for example, would produce a false result.
When DNA samples are contaminated, the genetic profiles they produce may show non-matching DNA markers between the alleged father and the child. When enough of the markers do not match, the tested father is excluded as the biological father of the child.
Finally, insufficient testing may lead to a false exclusion when the DNA of one of the tested parties has a mutation (a random genetic change) that causes a DNA marker to not match between the alleged father and the child. Extended testing is sometimes required in the event of mutations, which occur in approximately 2% of the cases we test.
Beta Paternity prevents the reporting of false exclusions by performing every DNA test twice. When the samples for a test arrive at our lab, two independent teams perform separate analyses on them. Once the tests are completed, the teams compare their raw data and their results to ensure they are the same for both teams.
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