Analysis of DNA Fingerprinting Data in Cases of Disputed Paternity

Abstract

DNA fingerprinting is proving to be of great use in the establishment of the relatedness between individuals. Models are presented to assess the probabilities of DNA fingerprints as a means of establishing the paternity of a disputed offspring. The simplest models make a variety of unrealistic assumptions and an outline is presented of how the assumptions of fingerprint band population frequency equality and mutation rate constancy can be relaxed to produce a more realistic and powerful model.

DNA fingerprinting, paternity testing