Summary
Determination of paternity was attempted in the case of three children whose putative fathers are dead using DNA samples of the paternal grandparents. The DNA analyses were performed with both multilocus and single-locus probes which resolve highly polymorphic areas of human genome. The results were conclusive with both types of probes and facilitated, for example, the exclusion of the brother of the putative father. The evidence for true paternity obtained with DNA analyses can be considered reliable in this type of “indirect” paternity in which tests based on protein polymorphism are inconclusive.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cawood AH (1989) DNA Fingerprinting. Clin Chem 35:1832–1837
Helminen P, Ehnholm C, Lokki M-L, Jeffreys AJ, Peltonen L (1988) Application of DNA “fingerprints” to paternity determinations. Lancet 12:574–5763
Hummel K (1971) Die Bedeutung der Blutgruppen der Grosseltern bei der Abstammungsbegutachtung — Berechnung einer “Grosseltern-Wahrscheinlichkeit”. Z Immunforsch 142:260
Jeffreys AJ, Wilson V, Thein SL (1985a) Hypervariable “minisatellite” regions in human DNA. Nature 314:67–73
Jeffreys AJ, Wilson V, Thein SL (1985b) Individual specific fingerprints of human DNA. Nature 316:76–78
Jeffreys AJ, Royle NJ, Wilson V, Wong Z (1988) Spontaneous mutation rates to new length alleles at tandem-repetetive hypervariable loci in human DNA. Nature 332:278–281
Johnsson DA, Gautsch JW, Sportsman JR, Elder AJH (1984) Improved technique utilizing nonfat dry milk for analysis of proteins and nucleic acids transferred to nitrocellulose. Gene Anal Tech 1:3–8
Lander ES (1989) DNA fingerprinting on trial. Nature 339:501–505
Lewin R (1989) Limits to DNA fingerprinting. Science 243:1549–1551
Maniatis T, Fritsch EF, Sambrook J (1982) Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
Smith JC, Anwar RA, Riley J, Jenner D, Hopkins B, Markham AF, Jeffreys AJ (1990) Highly polymorphic minisatellite sequences: allele frequencies and mutation rates for five locus specific probes in a Caucasian population. J Forensic Sci Soc 30:19–32
Vandenplas S, Wind I, Grobler-rabie A, Brebner K (1984) Blot hybridization analysis of genomic DNA. J Med Genet 21:164–172
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Helminen, P., Johnsson, V., Ehnholm, C. et al. Proving paternity of children with deceased fathers. Hum Genet 87, 657–660 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00201720
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00201720