In the society the high rate of paternity fraud is on the rise. Paternity fraud is a situation were a woman will get pregnant from another man and put the responsibility and fatherhood on the Husband or partner without telling the husband or partner who is the biological father of the child. This is gradually becoming a norm with many relationships and homes shattered when the truth is revealed with the help of paternity test. The reason behind this trend is a question fo another day but let's go to the main focus which is DNA and the role it plays in paternity determination.
DNA
The word DNA is a common word and those not science inclined must have heard it. It is short form of Deoxyribonucleic Acid. DNA is a double helix formed by the base pairs attayto a sugar-phosphate back bone. It is a nucleic acid that consists of two polynucleotide chains known as strands that coil around each other to form a double helix structure. Viewing the DNA, the structure resemble a twisted ladder with the base pairs forming the steps on the ladder (rungs). There is no way one can talk more about DNA and it's structure without the components that makes it up. The DNA as a nucleotide comprises of three key components which are a sugar molecule, phosphate group and Nitrogenous bases.
The sugar molecule is called deoxyribose and DNA derived it's name from the name of the sugar. An alternating sugar molecules form the backbone of each strande with the help of phosphate groups. Sugar-phosphate backbone is made possible by covalent bonds that binds the sugar molecules to the phosphate groups. The repeated phosphate group that form part of the DNA backbone gives the entire DNA strand negative charge because each phosphate group contain one negatively charged oxygen atom. Another important role of phosphate group in the DNA structure is that it provides energy needed to produce DNA polymer. The energy is used to link DNA together.
Nitrogenous bases are part of building blocks of DNA. they are organic molecules that contain nitrogen and the lone electron pair on the nitrogen atom provides their basic property. There are two major classes of Nitrogenous bases and they are the Purines and Pyrimidines. Bother classes are non polar and they are planar molecules. There are four Nitrogenous bases found in the DNA and they belong to the two classes.
The Purines consist of Pyrimidine ring fuser with an imidazole ring, forming a double ring structure and two bases that belong to the class are Adenine and Guanine which are often represent with capital letters A and G. The Pyrimidine is a single heterocyclic organic ring and the two nitrogen bases that make up the class are Thymine and Cytosine which are represented by capital letter T and C. Each base has a complementary base which it binds. Pyrimidine class complement the Purine class and the bases form the basis for the genetic codes.
DNA PATERNITY TEST
With the recent high rate of paternity fraud, more attention has been drawn to DNA Paternity yes which happens to be the most reliable method. There are other methods that can be use for paternity test such as ABO blood group typing, human leucocyte antigen antigens. The DNA Paternity test is currently the most advanced method and usually employed when there is paternity doubt. DNA plays important role in this test because it is the genetic makeup of an individual which is inherited from the parents and with this, the biological father of a child can be determined. The process used in DNA test is the Polymerase Chain Reaction commonly known as PCR.
POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION
PCR was discovered in 1980s by an American Biochemist, Kary Mullis and since then, it has played a vital role in generic science. PCR is simply a laboratory technique used to amplify segment of DNA of interest from a small sample. For the reaction to take place, the following components are required and they are DNA segment of interest, specific primers, heat-resistant DNA Polymerase enzyme, DNA nucleotide bases and buffer solution to create suitable environment. The key stages in the process are
1) Denaturing Stage: in this stage the double strande sis separated with the help of heat. The temperature is increased and high temperature causes the hydrogen bonds binding the bases to break leading to separation of the stranded.
2) Annealing Stage: this stage is opposite of the first stage because the temperature is lowered to give room for the DNA Primers to attach to the DNA template by the help of hydrogen bond. This primers are Designed to serve as complementary bases and because the separated strands are complementary, there always two primers, a forward and reverse primer to serve the purpose.
3) Extending Stage: this stage involves raising the temperature again to form new strand of DNA with the help of a heat resistance Polymerase enzyme Taq Polymerase enzyme.
4) Analysis with Electrophoresis: this stage simply is the separation and analysis of newly produced copies. PCR method is all about heating and cooling of reaction mixture on the PCR Machine to produce result.
DNA test starts with collection of sample that will be used. It can be any body fluid or tissue because they all contain DNA. the sample is either collected and sent to accredited laboratory for analysis or collected on the laboratory. The cells are lysed to release the DNA and it is done with the help of an enzyme. The DNA strand undergoes copying through the process Polymerase Chain Reaction explained above to produce many copies of interest. Then this copies are tested for genetic markers which are very crucial in matching.
The genetic markers of the child are matched with the father's own and the potential father must have match half of the child's genetic markers because the other half comes from the mother. The result obtain is known as probability parentage and the probability is 0% when the parent is not the biological parent of the child and 99.9% when the individual is the biological parent of the child.
Case 1
In 2015, Mike tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend. Shortly after, they gave birth to a bouncing baby girl.
Mike's marriage could have been a fairy tale, but two years later, through a series of unfortunate events, Mike found out that the child he called his daughter wasn't his. His world crashed in an Instant.
Case 2
on-air personality (OAP) Chinedu Ani, better known as Nedu of Wazobia FM, alleged that the first son given birth to by his ex-wife, Uzoamaka Ohiri, during their marriage was not his biological child.
The talk show host went ahead to post a DNA test result, complete with the child’s name, on his Instagram page to buttress his claim. The result, which was endorsed by the president at Viaguard Accu-metrics, Ontario, Canada, one Dr Harvey Tenenbaum, on June 24, 2019, stressed that the possibility of Nedu being the father of the child was zero per cent.
But Miss Ohiri fired back swiftly saying she never intentionally gave another man’s baby to her ex-husband, stressing that she did not cheat on Nedu during their brief marriage, but was in a relationship before meeting her former husband, adding that she was not aware that she was pregnant for her ex-boyfriend before the marital journey with Nedu began.
CONCLUSION
The name says it all, paternity fraud is illegal and wickedness against mankind. Everyone deserves the truth and imposing someone's child to your partner concealing the true biological father is wickedness. With the high rate of Paternity fraud, soon it will become a norm with many home shattered after the truth is revealed. More importantly when you want to conduct a DNA Test, make sure to visit accredited and reputable laboratory for accurate results. Lastly what's your take on paternity fraud and how will you react of it happens to you?
REFERENCE
DNA Basics
DNA Structure
Polymerase Chain Reaction
DNA Test
Guardian.ng
Pulse.ng