Related Research Articles
DNA profiling is the process of determining an individual's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding.
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy. Twins can be either monozygotic ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic, meaning that each twin develops from a separate egg and each egg is fertilized by its own sperm cell. Since identical twins develop from one zygote, they will share the same sex, while fraternal twins may or may not. In very rare cases twins can have the same mother and different fathers.
A parent is either the progenitor of a child or, in humans, it can refer to a caregiver or legal guardian, generally called an adoptive parent or step-parent. The gametes of a parent result in a child, a male through the sperm, and a female through the ovum. Parents are first-degree relatives and have 50% genetic meet. A female can also become a parent through surrogacy. Some parents may be adoptive parents, who nurture and raise an offspring, but are not related to the child. Orphans without adoptive parents can be raised by their grandparents or other family members.
A genetic chimerism or chimera is a single organism composed of cells with more than one distinct genotype. In animals and human chimeras, this means an individual derived from two or more zygotes, which can include possessing blood cells of different blood types, and subtle variations in form (phenotype). Animal chimeras are produced by the merger of two embryos. In plant chimeras, however, the distinct types of tissue may originate from the same zygote, and the difference is often due to mutation during ordinary cell division. Normally, genetic chimerism is not visible on casual inspection; however, it has been detected in the course of proving parentage. In contrast, an individual where each cell contains genetic material from two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera is called a hybrid.
DNA paternity testing is the use of DNA profiles to determine whether an individual is the biological parent of another individual. Paternity testing can be especially important when the rights and duties of the father are in issue and a child's paternity is in doubt. Tests can also determine the likelihood of someone being a biological grandparent. Though genetic testing is the most reliable standard, older methods also exist, including ABO blood group typing, analysis of various other proteins and enzymes, or using human leukocyte antigen antigens. The current techniques for paternity testing are using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Paternity testing can now also be performed while the woman is still pregnant from a blood draw.
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or through biochemical analysis to measure specific protein output. In a medical setting, genetic testing can be used to diagnose or rule out suspected genetic disorders, predict risks for specific conditions, or gain information that can be used to customize medical treatments based on an individual's genetic makeup. Genetic testing can also be used to determine biological relatives, such as a child's biological parentage through DNA paternity testing, or be used to broadly predict an individual's ancestry. Genetic testing of plants and animals can be used for similar reasons as in humans, to gain information used for selective breeding, or for efforts to boost genetic diversity in endangered populations.
The Atlanta murders of 1979–1981, sometimes called the Atlanta child murders, are a series of murders committed in Atlanta, Georgia, between July 1979 and May 1981. Over the two-year period, at least 28 children, adolescents, and adults were killed. Wayne Williams, an Atlanta native who was 23 years old at the time of the last murder, was arrested, tried, and convicted of two of the adult murders and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
Shorttandemrepeat (STR) analysis is a common molecular biology method used to compare allele repeats at specific loci in DNA between two or more samples. A short tandem repeat is a microsatellite with repeat units that are 2 to 7 base pairs in length, with the number of repeats varying among individuals, making STRs effective for human identification purposes. This method differs from restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (RFLP) since STR analysis does not cut the DNA with restriction enzymes. Instead, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is employed to discover the lengths of the short tandem repeats based on the length of the PCR product.
Paternity fraud is one form of misattributed paternity or paternal discrepancy. Specifically, paternity fraud is the intentional misidentification of a child's biological father by its mother. Paternity fraud is distinct from other, unintentional misattribution, which may arise from simple error, an accident such as a mix-up during fertility treatment, or a sexual assault.
Mater semper certa est is a Roman-law principle which has the power of praesumptio iuris et de iure, meaning that no counter-evidence can be made against this principle. It provides that the mother of the child is conclusively established, from the moment of birth, by the mother's role in the birth.
Babies switched at birth are babies who, because of either error or malice, are interchanged with each other at birth or very soon thereafter, leading to the babies being unknowingly raised by parents who are not their biological parents. The occurrence has historically rarely been discovered in real life, but in recent years is becoming more commonly identified due to genealogical testing of DNA, which reveals true genetic parentage. The phenomenon has been common as a plot device in novels and films, such as the TV series Switched at Birth and Autumn in My Heart.
Human genetic chimerism, which can not only cause a wide range of illnesses but also lead to the same person having more than one profile in genetic fingerprinting, has served as a plot device in many works of fiction. Most known examples are subsequent to the 2004 book Free Culture, where author Lawrence Lessig digresses briefly to describe chimerism and suggest that it could, and had yet to, be well used as a television plot device.
The Moe incest case emerged in February 2007 when a woman, identified only as "M" for legal reasons, reported to Victoria Police in the Australian town of Moe, Victoria, that her 63-year-old father, RSJ, had raped her, physically abused her and kept her prisoner in her own home between 1977 and 2005.
46,XX/46,XY is a chimeric genetic condition characterized by the presence of some cells that express a 46,XX karyotype and some cells that express a 46,XY karyotype in a single human being. The cause of the condition lies in utero with the aggregation of two distinct blastocysts or zygotes into a single embryo, which subsequently leads to the development of a single individual with two distinct cell lines, instead of a pair of fraternal twins. 46,XX/46,XY chimeras are the result of the merging of two non-identical twins. This is not to be confused with mosaicism or hybridism, neither of which are chimeric conditions.
Forced fatherhood or imposed paternity, occurs when a man becomes a father against his will or without his consent. It can include deception by a partner about her ability to get pregnant or use of contraceptives, birth control sabotage, paternity fraud and sexual assaults of males that result in pregnancy.
The Bear Brook murders are female American murder victims, two discovered in 1985 and two in 2000, at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, New Hampshire, United States. All four of the victims were either partially or completely skeletonized; they were believed to have died between 1977 and 1981.
Kamiyah Teresiah Tasha Mobley was abducted from a Florida hospital on July 10, 1998, when she was only eight hours old. In January 2017, she was found alive in Walterboro, South Carolina. DNA testing proved that she was not the daughter of Gloria Williams, her abductor. She had been raised under the name Alexis Kelli Manigo.
Taylor Alexis Muhl is an American singer-songwriter, model, dancer, and awareness advocate.
A human chimera is a human with a subset of cells with a distinct genotype than other cells, that is, having genetic chimerism. In contrast, an individual where each cell contains genetic material from a human and an animal is called a human–animal hybrid, while an organism that contains a mixture of human and non-human cells would be a human-animal chimera.
Human chimerism is a condition characterized by the presence of cells from two or more unique zygotes within an individual, which can occur spontaneously or through artificial means. Natural human chimeras can arise during pregnancy through the exchange of cells between fetus and mother or through genetic fusion between twins. This leads to the emergence of new chimeric genes and phenotypic traits, including skin pigmentation and eye color variation. Identification of natural chimeras involves various techniques such as blood typing, karyotyping, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).
References
- ↑ "She's Her Own Twin". ABC News. August 15, 2006.
- ↑ Yu, Neng; et al. (May 16, 2002). "Disputed Maternity Leading to Identification of Tetragametic Chimerism". New England Journal of Medicine. 346 (20): 1545–1552. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa013452 . PMID 12015394.
- ↑ Rowlands, Letitia. "When your unborn twin is your children's mother". Essential Baby. Archived from the original on March 1, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
