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DNA Testing Center
   There are different reasons to establish paternity. You may need a formal DNA report for courts, immigration purpose, household registration or for personal uses. Sometimes, you may want to make sure who is the biological father/mother of your baby or child. Sometimes you may need to know whether your brother/sister or grandparents have kinship with you. GenePhile Bioscience laboratory is accredited by the Department of Health to provide these services. The process follows ISO 15189 regulations to ensure that you receive accurate and legally admissible results (accepted by courts and other government agencies). Based on CODIS system,  GenePhile uses a panel of 15 basic STR loci, which is used in major laboratories worldwide, to achieve a combined power of exclusion (CPE) up to 0.99999861.
    In addition to the basic 15 loci, GenePhile also provides testing for other autosomal STR loci, Y chromosomal STRs, X chromosomal STRs and Mitochondria analysis system for complex scenarios. In combination with these additional systems, the combined power of exclusion reaches 0.9999999998.　

◆ Parents-child DNA Testing : 
    A DNA paternity test can determine whether a man/woman could be the biological father/ mother of a child. We all inherit our DNA (the genetic material) from our biological parents. A paternity test compares a child's DNA pattern with that of the alleged father/ mother to check for evidence of this inheritance—the most definitive proof of a biological relationship. 
    The basis of a DNA paternity test is that children receive one half of their DNA from each biological parent. The result of a paternity test is either an exclusion (the alleged father/mother is not the biological father/mother), or not exclusion (the alleged father/mother cannot be ruled out as the biological father/mother). For a standard paternity test, GenePhile guarantees at least 99.9% probability of paternity for "not exclusion" or 100% certainty of "exclusion".

◆ Household registration for newborns: 
    In Taiwan, if the couple is unmarried or the mother has not been married for more than 302 days, then no one will be listed as the father on the household certificate and ID card until the relationship is defined. The household registration office may request you to provide a DNA report to prove the relationship.
    If the mother has not been divorced for over 302 days and remarried, her ex-husband is presumed to be the father of the baby. If the mother wants to have a true registration regarding the baby, she needs to take action in court to deny the paternity of child and her ex-husband. The court will request a DNA paternity report as an evidence. 
    For more information regarding registration of the child's parents, please contact your local household registration office.

◆ Immigration DNA Testing 
    DNA test is often used to determine whether individuals are related as full or half siblings, or have a parent-child relationship. This is especially useful for immigration to a country, when one relative is a legal resident.
    Our DNA test is the most accurate available today for determining paternity and other family relationships. When there is insufficient documentation to bring a relative into the country, all doubts will be removed by undergoing a DNA test. 
    Based on the DOH accreditation, GenePhile serves as a fair third party to issue DNA reports for immigration applicants. For immigration cases, paternity or maternity tests may be performed, or a relatedness test is used to identify a biological relationship other than paternal or maternal relationship. For example, it may be used to test if an aunt or uncle is related to a niece or nephew. Our highly trained staff will discuss each case with you to ensure that the most appropriate "known" relatives are tested and that the best DNA technology is used, in order to provide the most conclusive result.

◆ Prenatal DNA Testing (Fetal DNA Testing) : 
    Applicants who wish to determine paternity before the baby is born may take a prenatal paternity test. Like a standard paternity test, the prenatal test compares the DNA profile of the baby with that of the alleged father. Because the baby’s DNA is set at conception, the prenatal test gives the same conclusive results as the standard paternity test.
    To obtain samples from the fetus, an OB-GYN uses either of two procedures depending on the stage of pregnancy: chorionic villus sampling (CVS) or amniocentesis. These processes are safe and reliable with experienced OB-GYN.

◆ Kinship DNA Testing
    If an alleged father is deceased or unavailable for testing, GenePhile has several kinship testing options to determine if the child is related to the alleged father’s close relatives, such as his parents and siblings. Kinship tests are also available for confirming other relationships or reconstructing pedigree. 

Sibling DNA Testing
    Sibling DNA testing is used to determine if two individuals are brothers, sisters, or brother and sister. Two individuals born of the same biological parents share much more of their DNA profiles than individuals that are not related. On average, full siblings (share both biological parents) have 50% of their DNA in common, half siblings (share only one biological parent) have 25% of their DNA in common. With the results of a sibling DNA test, we can determine if two persons are siblings based on DNA profile they have in common. 

Grandparent (Half-sibling) DNA testing
    When the father of a child is not available for DNA testing, the grandparents can be tested. This DNA test is possible because if the grandparents are the biological parents of the biological father of the child, then they share the same paternal genetic markers of the child in question. The basic genetic analysis for a grandparent test is the same as that used in our standard DNA paternity test.  However, other testing systems, such as Y-STR, X-STR and mitochondria sequences, may be used because the relationship is more distant between grandparents and grandchild than that between parents and child.
Reconstruction testing
    Reconstruction testing compares DNA profiles of the father’s close relatives with that of the child. This form of testing is usually helpful when the alleged father of a child cannot be tested and when one or both of the parents are unavailable for testing. 
Application Notice:

◆ Prepare documents that can identify the applicants.
     Adult: ID card (for natives) or Passport (for foreign nationals)
    Child with household registered: booklet of registered residence.
    Newborn (without household registered): Certificate of birth

◆ Pre-registration by phone or On-site registration:
     Monday to Friday: 09:00-12:00; 14:00-18:00
    Saturday: 09:00-12:00
    Tel. +886-2-33931030

◆ Sampling process: (within 30 min)

Registration
Verify applicants / ID card / Passport
Fill in the application form and sign
Stamp finger print / Photograph
Sampling (oral swab or blood)
Pay the fees

Sample Collection:
For newborns or children, oral swab sampling is a very convenient and non-invasive method to collect sufficient DNA for identification. The DNA profiles from the buccal cells, blood, hair roots, semen or tissue are the same. 

◆ Buccal Cells - Oral Swab
     Prepare 1-2 swabs per person. 
Open mouth, use a well-labeled swab to wipe both sides of cheek, inside-out and upside-down. Air dry to prevent moldy. <Details of sampling method>
   ! Don't touch the cotton edge of swab
   ! Avoid contamination by another swab
   ! Air Dry and Pack separately with envelop

◆ Blood
     Whole blood: CBC tube (with anti-coagulation reagent): 3 c.c.
    Cord blood: CBC tube (with anti-coagulation reagent): 3 c.c.

◆ Prenatal Sampling
    Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS):  Guided by an ultrasound, a doctor inserts a thin needle through the pregnant woman's abdomen to obtain chorionic villi. Chorionic villi are tiny pieces of tissues attached to the chorionic sac. The chorionic villi and the fetus originates from the same fertilized egg, and have the same genetic makeup. This procedure can be done earlier in pregnancy from the 10th-14th week.
     Amniocentesis: This procedure is performed in the second trimester, anywhere from the 16th-24th week of pregnancy. During this procedure, the doctor uses ultrasound to guide a thin needle, through the abdomen to enter the uterus. Usually 5-10ml of amniotic fluid is enough for testing. The procedure-associated miscarriage rate is less than 2/1000. Other minor side effects may include cramping, leaking amniotic fluid, and vaginal spotting. Most of these usually resolve spontaneously.

Issue the DNA report:

    Applicants will receive a set of an original DNA report and an original certificate. If the alleged father is the biological father of the child, the combined paternity index (CPI) will be higher than 1000 and the paternity probability (PP) will be higher than 99.9%. If the alleged father is not the biological father of the child, all the excluding loci will be listed. 
    For kinship testing, only a combined kinship index will be shown on the DNA report. You can compare the value with a reference table index to draw a result.

Regular cases:
 Paternity testing: within 5 business days
Sibling/half-sibling testing: within 10 business days
Urgent cases:
 Paternity testing: within 3 business days
Sibling/half-sibling: within 5 business days

Testing fee:
Regular cases:
 Paternity testing: 
NTD 16,000 / a duo (Father-Child or Mother-Child)
NTD 20,000 / a Trio (Father-Mother-Child)

Sibling/half-sibling testing: 
NTD 26,000 / two person comparison
Urgent cases: 
NTD 2,500 extra charge for an urgent case

DownLoad
DNA paternity testing application form
 Oral swab sampling method

Glossary
CODIS (Combined DNA Index System)
The CODIS system uses markers located in the autosomal DNA. CODIS test results are maintained in FBI database and is used to identify suspects of criminal acts.

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
The DNA is a chemical consisting of a sequence of hundreds of millions of nucleotides found in the nucleus of cells and it contains the genetic information of an individual. DNA is shaped like a double-stranded helix.

STR - Short Tandem Repeats
Also known as microstellite. An STR is a short DNA motif (pattern) repeated in tandem. For example, an ATGC STR repeats 11 times in a particular allele, a value of 11 will be designated for this allele of the STR locus. Since a person has two alleles, one from father and the other form mother, at a particular autosomal STR, he/she has two values at each STR locus.

How to read a paternity report
By the international standard,  usually 13-15 STR loci are shown on the DNA report. 
Each locus has from about 5-12 recognizable alleles, which differ in the length of the repeated sequence. According to the length, the alleles of the locus can be defined using an internationally accepted nomenclature. For example, the alleged father possesses (15,18), and the child possesses (14,18) in the D3s1358 locus. They have the same allele of 18, we denote the paternity is "not exclusion" at this locus. If all the loci in the identification system are "not exclusion" and the combined paternity index (CPI) is higher than 1000, the alleged father is concluded to be the biological father of the child. Otherwise, if there are more than 3 excluded loci between the alleged father and child, we are definitely confident that the alleged father is not the biological father of the child. 
　

Ko's Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic
 1F., No.10-1, Linsen S. Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 100, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
Pre-registration：02-33933939     DNA Lab：02-33931030   Cytogenetic Lab：02-23921013
Copyright 2005 by GenePhile Bioscience Laboratory, Ko's OBS/GYN. All Rights Reserved.