Parentage and relationship testing

Abstract

Parentage testing, also known as relatedness testing, is largely performed using polymerase chain reaction of short tandem repeats. The situations in which relatedness testing can be useful include parentage confirmation for legal cases, or for questions related to adoption, absent parents, or immigration. Sample collection methods depend on the purpose of the testing. Interpretation of the test results focus on exclusion or the likelihood of parentage when exclusion cannot be established, which requires use of standard probability calculations. Molecular testing of genetic systems can provide information to resolve questions of relatedness. Though these tests are powerful tools that can exclude almost all falsely accused parents, the tests alone do not prove absolutely that a relationship exists between two individuals.