The World's Premier Home Paternity Testing Service

Surprising celebrity paternity results filled the news this week. One celebrity discovered that he was not the father, another added 2 more children to his family, and a third confirmed paternity of at least 40 children claiming him.

Chris Rock
In a statement issued on August 6, Chris Rock announced that DNA test results showed that he was excluded as the father of his ex-girlfriend’s son. Kali Bowyer approached Rock early this year to request a paternity test for her 13-year-old son, seeking child support and medical coverage for her son. Because Rock is not her son’s father, he is now requesting that any money that Bowyer received for her story be donated to charity.

James Brown
Also on August 6, attorneys handling the estate of the late James Brown announced that DNA tests have confirmed Brown’s paternity of at least 2 more children. Twelve people have come forward since Brown’s death claiming that they were fathered by him, and DNA tests were ordered to confirm their claims. Currently, an undisclosed number of the results have excluded Brown as the father, while a few other DNA tests are still pending.

MKO Abiola
AllAfrica.com reported this week that 113 children have claimed the late Chief MKO Abiola as their father. DNA testing for some of these children has started, and results show that at least 25 children are not biologically related to Abiola, while 40 others were proven to be his children. In addition, 6 other children were claimed in his will. DNA tests are pending for at least 21 more children.

Visit the paternity testing page to learn more about how this DNA testing service works.

Using statistics that surprised many readers, The Tennessean published the following:

Naming the wrong man as the father is not rare. Each year, more than 2,000 women across Tennessee name the wrong guy as their baby’s father, Department of Human Services DNA tests results show.

The article, “Paternity cases are often memorable, often sad,” features Juvenile Court referee Scott Rosenberg as he reflects on the many paternity cases he’s presided over. He argues for more use of paternity DNA tests when paternity is in question because they provide definitive answers within a short time period. Rosenberg says that many questions surrounding such situations would have been otherwise impossible to resolve without the use of paternity tests and other DNA testing services.

Beta Genetics offers in-home paternity tests for peace of mind. This means that if you have a doubt about paternity, you can take a Beta paternity test in the privacy of your own home. The results you receive will be as accurate as legal DNA test results, but they will not be admissible in court. However, if you desire legally defensible results after you receive results from Beta, you can undergo testing through DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC), the world leader in private paternity testing, at a discounted price.

The primary difference between in-home and legal DNA testing is the DNA collection process. For in-home tests, you or anyone you know can collect the samples of DNA. For legal DNA tests, however, only an unbiased third party may collect the samples. Despite this difference, the DNA testing standards for in-home paternity tests at Beta’s laboratory are as stringent as those in DDC’s laboratory for legal tests, so you can be confident in the accuracy of your DNA test results.

Beta Genetics provides high quality, discreet paternity DNA tests to establish peace of mind. You can learn more about our services and test uses by visiting the DNA testing page now.

Illustrator of the first published and accurate drawing of a DNA molecule and wife of famed DNA scientist, Francis Crick, Odile Crick died this month at the age of 86. As an artist who was accomplished in Rubenesque sketches and paintings, she gained attention when she drew the abstract structure of DNA that accompanied James Watson’s and Crick’s Nature article in 1953.

Her abstract drawing in conjunction with the article revolutionized the understanding of DNA’s structure and opened the door to great advances in research. And despite all the new research, her drawing and the research conclusion of Watson and Crick have remained accurate over time.

As more has been understood about DNA, the more real-life applications of DNA science have been found. Notably, paternity tests, forensic investigation, and other DNA identification processes have been established that are invaluable today to scientists and laypeople alike.

Odile was preceded in death by her husband, Francis, in 2004.

The Internet contains many different interactive websites that review the basics of genetics and DNA testing. The following websites, created by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Dolan DNA Learning Center, are a few that we recommend to you for learning more about the DNA testing and genetics.

DNA from the Beginning
DNA from the Beginning is “an animated primer on the basics of DNA, genes, and heredity. It is organized around key concepts… [with] each concept explained by animation, image gallery, video interviews, problem, biographies, and links.”

DNA Interactive
DNA Interactive, a site “dedicated to the moment on February 28, 1953, when Jim Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double-helical structure of DNA – and to the scientists who breathed life into that structure,” covers the many different applications for DNA technology and chronicles the history leading to today’s cutting-edge DNA science. This site includes exclusive videos and photographs of the world’s leading DNA testing experts.

Gene Almanac
Gene Almanac links you to all of the online resources provided by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Some of the resources include a media library and educational seminar opportunities hosted by Dolan DNA Learning Center.

You can also learn more about DNA testing technology by visiting our laboratory page or by reviewing answers on our FAQs page. A useful glossary of terms is also available to you as you review these and other pages on the Beta Genetics website.

A long-overlooked mummy of an obese woman was identified last week as the most powerful ancient Egyptian female pharaoh, Hatshepsut. Scientists used dental analysis and DNA testing to determine her identity. Hatshepsut ruled in the 15th century BCE, but when she died, her mummified remains were not marked like other pharaohs. In fact, her mummy was ignored until recently because it was found lying on the ground next to the sarcophagus mummy of her wet nurse in the Valley of Kings.

This discovery coincides with the establishment of a DNA testing laboratory funded by Discovery Channel. A year ago, Discovery Channel paid $5 million for Egypt to set up its first DNA lab dedicated to testing mummies. It is hoped that DNA analysis will uncover biological relationships among the royal Egyptian mummies and establish reference samples for future DNA samples from mummies.

The Discovery Channel DNA testing lab is equipped with state-of-the-art genetic analyzers and robotics from Applied Biosystems (ABI). Much of this equipment is the same cutting edge equipment that Beta Genetics uses. In Beta’s laboratory, we use ABI PRISM genetic analyzers that measure the size of DNA markers produced after amplification. The marker sizes are used for comparison to identify biological relationships.

To learn more about the search for and identification of Hatshepsut, visit Secrets of Egypt’s Lost Queen on the DiscoveryChannel.com. You can also learn more about the technology and analysis behind the DNA tests by visiting the Beta Genetics laboratory now.

“I can’t participate in a paternity test because it requires a blood sample.”

We hear this from some clients who, for personal or religious reasons, will not participate in paternity DNA tests because they assume samples of their blood are needed. Although blood could be used, it is not the preferred sample for paternity tests. Instead, DNA testing laboratories, such as Beta Genetics, routinely request buccal swabs.

Buccal swabs are used to collect samples of skin cells from the inside of the cheek. Because DNA is found in most parts of the body, these buccal samples are just as useful as blood or other specimens. The patient or another person can painlessly collect DNA samples in little time at all by rubbing the inside of the cheek with the buccal swabs. And people of any age – from birth on – can have buccal samples collected for DNA testing.

To learn more about buccal swabs and the DNA collection process, visit our sample collection page. Also, you will find more information on paternity testing in our DNA testing services section.

In the spirit of the holiday, we collected a few recent news stories that depict the true power of the paternity test. The following articles capture various aspects of DNA testing and how alleged fathers have used paternity tests to clarify situations in their lives.

Buffalo hurdler Rucker leaps into fatherhood
A college student learns he is the father of his ex-girlfriend’s daughter and is able to provide her with a better education and a safer home.

Paternity case beyond personal
A man takes on the California paternity laws to relieve his child support duties of a child proven not to be his biological child.

Paternity test determines elephant’s poppa
From the Louisville Zoo, here’s a heart-warming paternity story from the animal kingdom.

To learn more about these and other DNA tests, visit Beta’s paternity test page.

In a recent article from India, a mother was required to undergo DNA testing to verify her claim of an abandoned child. Although this situation requiring maternity testing may seem unusual, this DNA test has many other more common uses for identifying mothers.

Maternity testing is most often used in situations when a child and mother are separated. This could occur in adoption reunification, immigration cases, and even baby mix-ups in the hospital after birth. A maternity test can identify a mother’s biological relationship to her child.

Maternity tests work the same way as paternity tests. DNA samples are collected from the alleged mother and child (the father can be included) and DNA profiles are generated. The profiles are compared for genetic similarities and the results will show a 99.99% or greater probability of maternity (that the alleged mother is the biological mother of the child) or 0% probability of maternity (that the alleged mother is not the biological mother of the child).

To learn more about maternity tests and other DNA tests, visit the Beta Testing Services page now.

Last week, May 31, Dr. James Watson became the first person in the world to receive a complete copy of his genome. As one of the discoverers of DNA’s helical structure and a Nobel Prize laureate, Watson was an obvious choice for the honor of being the first person to have his genome sequenced.

Watson’s genome provides a complete picture of his DNA sequence, but it comes at a cost of almost $1 million and time of close to two months. For individual and biological relationship identification purposes, such as paternity tests or other DNA tests, much more efficient and less costly options are available.

Beta Genetics offers DNA profiling services for individual identification. These services, the foundation for our DNA tests, analyze a very small but highly variable section of the human genome called short tandem repeats (STRs). These STRs are inherited from both parents and, in combination with each other, comprise a unique DNA profile.

These DNA profiles are used for many reasons, particularly for those seeking to ensure safety and security. They can be used to provide crucial biological evidence for locating missing loved ones, to serve as a means of identification for those employed in high-risk jobs, or to study for medical genetic history. Additionally, these DNA profiles can be used for various biological relationship identifications.

In contrast with a complete human genome sequence, Beta DNA profiles are under $200 and can be generated in 5 working days. For DNA tests, profiles are generated and compared for as little as $235. Additionally, these results are available as soon as 5 working days after receipt of the DNA samples by the lab.

Visit our DNA Testing Services page to learn more about your different options.

What happens if you are unable to collect all of the DNA samples for your paternity test right after you receive your paternity test kit? How long do you have to use the DNA kit?

These are questions that many of our clients ask, particularly when tested parties are difficult to reach for DNA sample collection. The good news: Beta paternity DNA test collection kits do not expire. You can use our kit on the day you receive it or years from now.

There’s a catch, however: If you have collected samples of one or more of the tested parties (but not all of the parties), the DNA in the samples may deteriorate if you wait an extended period of time. Unlike unused kits that have an unlimited shelf life, used DNA sample collection kits (along with the collected DNA) may not last forever after the DNA is collected. This is because DNA can break down over time when exposed to the environmental elements.

So what does this mean?

When you receive your free DNA test collection kit, you have as long as you want to start collecting DNA samples. Although it is best to collect all the samples together, you can collect the samples separately, place them in the paper envelopes provided, and return them to our laboratory. We will store the collected samples and being paternity testing once we receive all of the DNA test samples. Results will be available in 5 short working days from the time the final sample is received.