MohBad: 20 things to know about DNA test

Some Nigerians have demanded for DNA test to prove the paternity of the five-month-old son of late singer MohBad.

A businessman, Larry Omodia, urged Mohbad’s wife to conduct a DNA test on her son to confirm his paternity.

He pledged to provide N10 million to support the singer’s widow for an ‘all-expense paid’ DNA test if she agreed.

This, he believed, would put paid to all accusations being leveled against Omowunmi regarding her hubby’s demise and utterly launder her image.

A DNA paternity test is considered the gold standard by the scientific and legal communities when it comes to accurately establishing a relationship between a possible father and a child.

Below are 20 things you should know about DNA test:

A DNA paternity test compares a DNA sample from an alleged father and a DNA sample from a child (minor or adult) to determine whether the two individuals are likely to share or not share a father/child biological relationship. With the exception of any mutations which are taken into account by geneticists when determining probability of paternity, the man being tested must match the child’s data at every marker tested in order to be considered the biological father.

A biological child shares 50% of their DNA with the biological father and 50% with the biological mother.

All that’s needed to perform a DNA paternity test is a DNA sample from the possible father, child in question, and mother of the child (her participation is optional but recommended).

There are two parts to all paternity tests: Collecting the DNA from test participants, and then testing and analysis of the samples at the laboratory.

DNA for paternity tests comes from participants’ cheek cells, which is collected using a simple, painless swab.

Each participant is provided four swabs; using one at a time, the tip of the swab is rubbed firmly on the insides of the cheeks to collect DNA. An adult can swab a child or infant

Swabs are then placed in paper envelopes. Paper containers allow the organic material on the swabs to “breathe” and prevent mold contamination as they travel to the laboratory.

In some rare postnatal cases, a blood sample may still be used for DNA, but cheek swabs are now the norm.

At the laboratory, DNA is extracted from the cells of each participant, and then amplified to make the sample more workable

At least 16 STR genetic markers for each participant are analysed, using a method called Short Tandem Repeat (STR) Analysis, to capture the genetic information for each marker.

A geneticist takes this data and uses a calculation to determine the probability that the man tested is the biological father of the child tested.

DNA test results could take from one to two business working days. Although same-day results are possible but come at an extra cost.

In order for results of a paternity test to be court-admissible, DNA collection and submission to the laboratory needs to be supervised by an approved disinterested third party.

Interpretation of paternity test results require laboratories to use specific legal terms. If a man is considered the biological father, the following would be contained in the report;

A conclusion statement that says, ‘the alleged father is not excluded as the biological father of the tested child. This means he can’t be statistically ruled out and is considered to be the biological father of the child’.

A Combined Paternity Index (CPI), which is the odds that the man is the father of the child. For example, a CPI of 43,110,000 means there is a 43,110,000 to 1 chance that someone other than the man who was tested is the biological father instead

A Probability of Paternity, which is the chance given as a percentage that the man is the father. It’s generally 99.9% or higher, which would read: There is a 99.9% chance that this man is the biological father of the child.

If a man isn’t considered the biological father, the report will contain the following:

A conclusion statement that says ‘the alleged father is excluded as the biological father of the tested child. This means he is not considered the biological father’.

A Combined Paternity Index (CPI), which is the odds that the man is the father of the child. For an exclusion this number is always 0

A Probability of Paternity, which is the chance given as a percentage that the man is the father. For an exclusion, this number is always 0.