History of prenatal paternity DNA testing.

Prenatal paternity testing is a relatively new testing method with advances in technology. In particular, before the development of non-invasive prenatal DNA testing (NIPT: Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing) technology, paternity testing was usually carried out after birth.

Historical background

Prenatal parentage techniques began to be based on invasive methods – amniocentesis andchorionic villus sampling.

1970s – Emergence of amniotic fluid testing and chorionic villus sampling

In the 1970s, amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) emerged and these techniques were used for prenatal genetic testing.This made it possible to test for foetal chromosomal abnormalities and, at the same time, theoretically possible to use foetal DNA for paternity testing.
However, these methods were of limited use as paternity tests because of the risks to the mother and were mainly used to check the health of the foetus.

1990s – Advances in DNA analysis technology

The 1990s saw major advances in DNA technology, which increased the accuracy of parent-child identification: technologies such as STR (short chain repeat sequence) and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) were developed, allowing genotyping to more accurately determine parent-child relationships.

2000s – The Debut of Non-Invasive Pre-Birth DNA Identification

In the 2000s, fetal free DNA (cffDNA: cell-free fetal DNA) in maternal blood is discovered.This technology has led to non-invasive methods for analysing foetal DNA by simply drawing blood from the mother.
This was the beginning of non-invasive prenatal paternity testing.It became widely used in the late 2000s as it made it possible to carry out paternity tests while avoiding invasive risks.

Current technology.

Non-invasive methods are now commonly used to determine parent-child relationships by extracting foetal DNA from maternal blood after the ninth week of pregnancy and comparing the DNA with that of the potential father.This technique is highly accurate and poses almost no risk to the mother or foetus, and has therefore become the standard method in paternity testing.

Summary

The history of prenatal parentage testing began with amniotic fluid testing and chorionic villus sampling in the 1970s, but the development of non-invasive DNA testing techniques in the 2000s made safer and more accurate testing possible.