As easy, affordable DNA Tests explode in popularity across the world, some companies are opening up some more lighthearted product lines.

We here at DNA Paternity Testing Centers do not yet offer Doggie DNA Tests, but we thought we’d report on this amusing topic nonetheless!

Now first of all, nobody is offering actual paternity tests for dogs right now. Instead, the DNA Tests are designed to pick out what breeding lines make up your dog’s genetics, and warn you as the owner about any genetic mutations or canine health issues that may pop up down the line. Most people get the DNA test just out of curiosity.

But does it actually work? If you pick the right company, surprisingly yes it does! Furthermore, DNA Tests reveal that shelters often label dogs with the wrong breeds. In fact, when one DNA Testing Team compared their results with the labels on the shelter, they found that the staff had correctly labeled the dog’s primary or secondary breed just 67% of the time.

These mistakes could wind up misleading pet owners, who often carefully choose dogs based on the breeds labeled on its cage.

Experts do caution against making life-or-death decisions about your pup’s health based purely on the DNA Testing. For example, one family found out their aging pup carried a genetic mutation that could lead to a neurodegenerative disease. Convinced their dog would suffer paralysis and eventual death, they had him put to sleep. But veterinarians said there was only a chance he would have gotten the disease, it wasn’t a for-sure thing.

So while you should feel free to discover exactly what breeds make up your loveable mutt, don’t use those findings to make medical decisions for your pet, at least not without consulting a veterinarian first!

Now getting back to the human side of DNA Testing, DNA Testing provides clear, scientifically verifiable answers to questions of parentage or ancestry. With over 2,000 centers nationwide, DNA Paternity Testing Centers is one of the largest, most affordable, networks of accredited DNA testing labs in the United States. Our price is unbeatable without sacrificing quality. We offer DNA testing for paternity, maternity and all other relationships (grandparents, siblings, aunts/uncles). Place your trust in us. Call us today at 866.232.7660 or ORDER ONLINE!

Next up on “Stories which will probably be a Movie One Day”, the cold-case murder of an 11 year old boy is solved by a huge, 14,000 person strong DNA test!

On August 1998, 11 year old Nicky Verstappen disappeared from his summer camp tent, and sadly his body was discovered in the woods the following day. As the 20th anniversary of this unsolved case approached, investigators launched an extraordinary last-ditch effort. They had the killer’s DNA on Nicky’s pajamas but it turned up no hits in the crime database. So they requested roughly 20,000 men — the entire male population of the area where Nicky was killed — submit their DNA as part of a mass testing operation.

More than 14,000 men did, but Jos Brech was not among the participants. The 55 year old survival enthusiast and former scout leader instead conveniently left for an extended hike in the mountains, telling his family he’d be sure and take the test upon his return. Except he never returned.

Because he didn’t submit his results, he might have thought he would avoid detection and continue to escape justice for his crime. But DNA Testing is more sophisticated than most people realize. One of the donors who did submit his DNA turned out to be related to the killer, which was enough to help investigators zero in on Brech as a suspect. They recovered a sample of DNA from his abandoned home and it was a match.

Instantly, Brech was placed on Europol’s most wanted, and it didn’t take long before he was arrested in nearby Spain, and will soon be extradited to the Netherlands to face formal trial. Sadly, Brech was questioned only 2 days after the initial murder, but the police deemed him only a passerby and not a suspect in the case at that time. Still, justice 20 years late is better than no justice at all.

DNA Testing can provide extraordinarily accurate answers that would be impossible to know otherwise, and it can do so even decades after the initial case runs cold. DNA Paternity Testing provides rock-solid answers to important questions like parentage and ancestry. With over 2,000 centers nationwide, DNA Paternity Testing Centers is one of the largest, most affordable, networks of accredited DNA testing labs in the United States. Our price is unbeatable without sacrificing quality. We offer DNA testing for paternity, maternity and all other relationships (grandparents, siblings, aunts/uncles). Call us today at 866.232.7660 or ORDER ONLINE!

For decades, South Carolina resident James C. Graham had been tormented by an inescapable feeling — his father seemed to deeply dislike him. This man’s remarkable quest for truth began in 1993, when his aging aunt and uncle confronted James with an obituary from a Catholic newsletter. They pointed to a sad, balding man who was listed of having died earlier that year and said “this priest may be your father.”

Though Graham was struck by the similarities between this priest’s facial features and his own, he had nothing else to go on, as both this priest and his own mother were deceased. Nevertheless, he began hunting down documents and piecing together timelines from the two individuals. He learned that his mother had left her first husband and Graham’s two older sisters shortly after he was born, fleeing abruptly without telling anyone where she was going. At about the same time, this priest had also deserted the Catholic order, leaving no trace.

Graham began to suspect that his mother and this priest were trying to embark on a new life and raise their newborn son together. But their plans were destroyed when her enstranged husband hired private detectives and discovered the couple holed up in a Manhattan apartment. According to uncovered court testimony, Graham’s stepfather testified to bursting into the apartment and seeing his wife in bed with another man. This gave Graham’s stepfather the power to divorce his mother and retain custody of him and his two older half-sisters.

Graham’s mother married someone else and remained close to Graham, though she took the secret to her grave. Church records show that the priest rejoined the Catholic Priesthood and spent the remainder of his life doing menial tasks like translating religious texts before he also died without revealing the secret.

Still, Graham lacked conclusive proof of his true father. In a hail-mary attempt, he asked the Catholic Church for permission to exhume the priest’s body and conduct a DNA test. To his great surprise, the Church agreed, and the results were conclusive.

Graham now enters a little-known group of people secretly fathered by Catholic Priests who break their promise of celibacy. Because of the shame and secrecy surrounding this act, the true number of people like Graham will never be known, but it’s likely to number in the thousands. Thousands of children growing up without the love of a biological father, secretly feeling that something is wrong but unable to put their finger on what it is.

The Catholic Church, in an official statement, expressed pleasure that Graham finally has the answers he so long sought. But the Church has been criticized for failure to do more to uncover abuses and impropriety within the church.

DNA Paternity Testing provides rock-solid answers to important questions like parentage and ancestry. With over 2,000 centers nationwide, DNA Paternity Testing Centers is one of the largest, most affordable, networks of accredited DNA testing labs in the United States. Our price is unbeatable without sacrificing quality. We offer DNA testing for paternity, maternity and all other relationships (grandparents, siblings, aunts/uncles). Call us today at 866.232.7660 or ORDER ONLINE!

“Maury” was the reigning king of daytime television in the early 2000’s, and though it’s not as popular as it once was, it’s still been renewed through to at least the 2020 television season.

A mixture of the shamelessness of Jerry Springer, but with just enough of the self-empowerment of Oprah, the tabloid-themed talk show is sometimes credited as the start of “black-trash TV”.

The show’s bread and butter was undoubtedly the Paternity Test segment. Day after day it’s the same — a young black single mother, low on the socioeconomic totem pole, embarrasses herself on national TV as she recounts all the different possible men who could be the father. There’s usually one (or more) “prime suspects” on the show and the two are encouraged to fight it out in front of the audience. They pull up the young child’s picture and the couple argue about facial features.

Maury is a constant figure on stage, using his journalistic skills to poke and prod the feud in just the right ways, sometimes masquerading as a sort of comforting therapist, sometimes pretending to be indignant. The viewer themselves is encouraged to pick sides in the fight.

Of course, Maury has the results of the paternity test in his hands. He knows the answer even before the show started. But at just the right moment, the screen flashes “THE RESULTS ARE IN!” Maury then opens the comically oversized envelope, the audience captivated and dead silent. He utters the same phrase, the only difference being the inclusion of one word. “You are NOT! the father.”

Pandemonium erupts. One side is inevitably proven right and they take their gratuitious victory lap, often running the shocked mother or newly confirmed father clear off the stage.

Maury finally tries to wrap up the segment by getting a promise from the new father to “do what’s right” or pledging to help the mother test more men in future episodes. It’s a feel-good note to end with. Then onto the next one.

Of course, I haven’t explained the show in a good light. But there’s no doubt that millions of viewers love this show and are obsessed with watching it every day. What is the draw?

First, the show perfectly encapsulates conflict. In real life, arguments and strife are messy. The true motivations of the other person aren’t known, the problem can be difficult to understand, and the resolution often comes months later or not at all. With these Paternity Test segments, you not only got an easily digestible premise, but you get a binary, “Yes or No” answer on the spot. Second, by having predominantly trashy people on the show, the viewer inherently feels superior about themselves and their own life. Overall, the show is a one-two punch of a dramatically satisfying narrative and a dose of self-satisfaction.
But this narrative comes at a steep cost, both in exploiting the couple who appear on the show and perpetuating damaging stereotypes about race and sex.

Upfront, a significant majority of the guests on the show are black, which contributes to longstanding racial stereotypes about families and black fathers, and the belief that a lot of blacks — moreso than whites — go out and have reckless sex, making random babies with strangers without the full grasp of the consequences.

Second, while nobody forces these people to come on the show, there’s no doubt that the producers deliberately fan the flames of conflict and make sure it plays out in the most exploitative and damaging possible way. Whenever a tearful mother races backstage, the camera crew huffing behind her so as to never miss a moment or give her a safe space to process what has just happened, it’s hard to deny that she is being exploited and traumatized for the pleasure of the viewing audience.

DNA Paternity Testing Centers can give you the court-approved answers to your child’s paternity — without the embarrassment and exploitation of a daytime television audience. With over 2,000 centers nationwide, DNA Paternity Testing Centers is one of the largest, most affordable, networks of accredited DNA testing labs in the United States. Our price is unbeatable without sacrificing quality. We offer DNA testing for paternity, maternity and all other relationships (grandparents, siblings, aunts/uncles). Call us today at 866.232.7660 or ORDER ONLINE!

Even just a decade or two ago, widely available and cheap DNA Testing was considered in the realm of science fiction. But now, thanks to an explosion in both ancestral curiosity and DNA Testing Companies, you can have a convenient in-home testing kit sent to your uncle for their birthday. Unlocking the lost secrets of your parentage, ancestors or medical conditions is now the price of a family dinner at an upscale restaurant.

But what actually happens when your cheek sample is sent off in that envelope? How do companies use your saliva to determine the nationality of your great-great-grandfather? Let’s unpack the science behind the magic.

Inside your saliva is many fresh samples of your DNA Genome. This is the unique genetic code that makes up.. well.. you! Unless you’re an identical twin, your DNA is completely unique to you in the entire world, and in the entire history of humanity.

Everybody knows that DNA looks kind of like a twisted ladder. The rungs of the ladder are the actual instruction sequence for your genome, and they come in 4 types called A, C, G and T. Sophisticated equipment breaks down the DNA sequence into a very long string of these letters. On its own, the sequence looks like complete gibberish, both to the average person and even to the scientists examining the data.

That’s where computer algorithms come in. Over many decades, through comparing hundreds of thousands of DNA samples and through exhausting trial and error, we have been able to identify patterns in the noise. There’s no string of letters that instantly means “Russian” or “Irish”, but we have noticed that confirmed Russian or Irish natives have very specific combinations of DNA letterings in certain spots of their genome. With computer help, if we then compare how close another DNA profile matches these specific strings, we can determine, with robust scientific accuracy, how much Russian or Irish descent that person has.

“The way that the algorithm works, it takes an entire genome and chunks it up,” said Robin Smith, who heads 23andMe’s ancestry program. “It takes little pieces, and for each piece, it compares it against British; it compares it against West African; it goes through the entire list, and it spits out a probability for [where that piece of DNA came from].”

The biggest weak point in this method is, the so-called “reference libraries” have to be accurate. Many people do have very accurate immediate background information that has been passed down from their parents. Other samples are pulled from independent research. But each company has their own private method for gathering these samples and matching incoming DNA profiles to them.

Where things get even more accurate is when it comes to Paternity Testing.

Researchers can track paternal ancestry by looking at the Y chromosome, which fathers pass to their male children. This time there’s no third-party “reference library” required, you just need to compare one set of DNA to another, and see if it matches up in enough key ways. Because your genome is 50% from your father, 50% from your mother, it won’t be a perfect match. But scientists know exactly what to look for to determine, with over 99% accuracy, the true identity of your father.

DNA Paternity Testing provides rock-solid answers to important questions like parentage and ancestry. With over 2,000 centers nationwide, DNA Paternity Testing Centers is one of the largest, most affordable, networks of accredited DNA testing labs in the United States. Our price is unbeatable without sacrificing quality. We offer DNA testing for paternity, maternity and all other relationships (grandparents, siblings, aunts/uncles). Call us today at 866.232.7660 or ORDER ONLINE!

DNA Ancestry Tests can help shed light on past family history that you didn’t know about. But it’s not every day that it can also illuminate still-living relatives that you never knew existed!

That was the case for one woman, 46 year old Adriana Brown. She was adopted at birth, and submitted a DNA test just trying to learn more about her family background. But by sheer coincidence, just two weeks after she sent hers in, her father also took a test with the same company, also just curious about his background. The company was able to identify a definitive match between the two.

“It said Bob Rodger, relationship parent/child,” Adriana said. “Yeah, so I sat at my kitchen counter in tears.” When she emailed her father about the DNA match, he was skeptical until she told him her birth mother’s name. Then he recalled a brief tryst, and now Father and Daughter have kindled a relationship thought lost.

“She’s beautiful,” said Bob, “just beautiful and I’m so proud of her.”

“This is the first time in my life I look and act like someone, and that’s pretty special,” said Adriana. “I feel like I found my people. They just seem like me, they act like me, they’re saying and doing the things that I would like to do for someone.”

DNA Testing can provide scientific matches to relationships once impossible to determine. All over the world, people are discovering siblings they never realized they had, or even the true paternity of their children.

DNA Testing provides clear, scientifically verifiable answers to questions of parentage or ancestry. But sometimes those can lead to unexpected results. With over 2,000 centers nationwide, DNA Paternity Testing Centers is one of the largest, most affordable, networks of accredited DNA testing labs in the United States. Our price is unbeatable without sacrificing quality. We offer DNA testing for paternity, maternity and all other relationships (grandparents, siblings, aunts/uncles). Call us today at 866.232.7660 or ORDER ONLINE!

Ancestry-oriented DNA Tests are the latest hot thing, but not all DNA testing companies are created equal. One Canadian company has sent back supposedly human ancestry results from DNA that actually came from a chihuahua. Shockingly, this not the first but the SECOND time this has happened.

This was not a comedic mistake in sample collection, but a coordinated sting by a suspicious colleague. Louis Côté, who worked with the company to collect samples, started to suspect something was wrong. So he bought three kits, submitted two cheek swabs from himself and one from his girlfriend’s dog, Snoopy. The results showed that both he and Snoopy had almost the same ancestry profile!

“I thought it was a joke,” Côté told CBC News. “The company is fooling people … the tests are no good.”

Once local media picked up on the story, it led to other companies being put through the paces. CBC News submitted samples to several different DNA Ancestry companies, from three of their employees known to be natives of India and Russia. And NBC Chicago tried submitting labrador DNA to one other DNA testing company.

In CBC New’s case, all the DNA profiles correctly identified their employees Eurasian origins, except for that one same company, who came back that they were natives of Canada, in a suspiciously similar profile to both Louis Côté and his Chihuahua. This company is no good, we say!

NBC Chicago didn’t fare much better. The company they tried was unable to detect that their DNA wasn’t human, and the company’s gene profile recommended the dog would be a great candidate for basketball (no Air Bud jokes, please).

So does this mean all DNA Testing is inaccurate? Absolutely not. What it DOES mean is that all DNA Testing companies are reputable. There has been an explosion of online DNA Testing, especially as it relates to Ancestry. Some of these companies appear to be sending out pre-generated or falsified results. Please make sure you have a legitimate company for you DNA Testing so you don’t waste your hard earned dollars and so you obtain an accurate result!

DNA Paternity Testing provides rock-solid answers to important questions like parentage and ancestry. With over 2,000 centers nationwide, DNA Paternity Testing Centers is one of the largest, most affordable, networks of accredited DNA testing labs in the United States. Our price is unbeatable without sacrificing quality. We offer DNA testing for paternity, maternity and all other relationships (grandparents, siblings, aunts/uncles). Call us today at 866.232.7660 or ORDER ONLINE!