Grandparent test
How does the grandparent test work? Can I really find out if I am the grandmother even if my son is not tested?
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Digg it
February 21st, 2006 at 9:21 pm
Grandparentage testing allows you to determine whether a child has inherited your DNA. It is based on the fact that you and the grandfather have passed on your DNA to your son, which, if he is the biological father, he would have then passed on to the child.
Our grandparentage test will compare your and the grandfather’s DNA with the child’s DNA to see if your profiles match. If they do, then you are the grandparent.
March 14th, 2006 at 4:41 am
Our son was recently killed in active duty. He supposedly fathered a son while on leave. The girl has vanished, but left the child with her sister. The sister wants me and my husband (the absolute bio parents of my son) to assume the responsibility of raising this child. We are in our late 50’s but would do so if I knew this was truly our grandchild. How can we find out? The child looks nothing like our family (we are Middle Eastern) and this child is blond, fair and has the lightest blue eyes I have ever seen. How accurate is this test?
March 14th, 2006 at 4:45 am
A motherless grandparentage test can be performed in this situation. You and your husband’s DNA account for half of your son’s DNA, which he then passed on to the child. We can test the child’s DNA to determine whether it matches yours, giving you a probability of grandparentage of 99% or higher if you are the the biological grandparents and a definite 0% if you are not.
Please note that our testing is for personal knowledge only—because we cannot verify the identity of the persons contributing the DNA sample we receive, the test results may not be used for legal purposes, such as inheritance or Social Security benefits. However, we understand that some clients would like the convenience and privacy of an in-home test, which is one of the reasons we provide this service.
If you foresee a need for results that can be used in a legal situation, please consider having a chain of custody (legally defensible) test through our sister company, DNA Diagnostics Center (www.dnacenter.com).
March 14th, 2006 at 4:48 am
I have heard that there are many “common markers” in male DNA. If males share this common relationship, how can you ever know for certain the child is yours? Perhaps some of the markers are common to many and just because you match on some strands, couldn’t others (randomly selected) have the same % of match? Would’nt it be more conclusive if the boy had markers from the grandmother of the “alledged” father? Afterall that would be a stretch to have those match up as well.
March 14th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
It is true that there are many common markers in male DNA—by male DNA, I take it you mean the Y chromosome. This is because the Y chromosome is passed on from father to son, and does not change significantly through the generations.
However, a paternity test (as well as a grandparentage test) does not focus on the Y chromosome; instead, it examines locations on several other different chromosomes found in a human cell. DNA at these locations are different enough throughout the human population that it is possibile to determine with statistical probabilities of 99.9999% or higher whether an alleged father is the biological father of the tested child.
For more information, you may wish to visit our Technology page:
http://www.betagenetics.com/dna_laboratory.html