SNP-based paternity testing in Japanese.

The technique using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in paternity testing is widely used in Japan and plays a particularly important role in confirming parent-child relationships with high accuracy.

SNP can also be used for paternity testing, but STR is still more common, so HIRO Clinic uses STR to carry out paternity testing.

1. What is SNP?

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) refers to a single base change in DNA.SNPs are very stable and can be passed from parent to child, making them an effective tool in confirming parent-child relationships.

2. The advantages of parent-child identification using SNPs

High accuracy: SNPs can be used to confirm parent-child relationships with the same high accuracy as conventional STRs (short chain repeat sequences).In particular, a database of SNPs is available for the Japanese, which makes reliable appraisals possible.
Rapid results: compared to conventional STR-based testing, SNP-based appraisal is considered to be faster to analyse.This is therefore advantageous when results need to be obtained quickly.

3. Paternity testing using SNPs in Japan

In Japan, SNP technology is used by institutions that carry out DNA testing, enabling them to compare an individual’s genetic information to confirm parent-child relationships.SNP data specific to the Japanese population is also used, which is considered highly accurate, especially when appraising the parent-child relationship of Japanese people.

4. The process of SNP paternity testing

Specimen collection: DNA is collected from cells in the mouth (by swabbing the inside of the cheek) or blood.
DNA analysis: use SNP markers to compare the child’s DNA with that of the parents.
Result reporting: parent-child relationships are usually confirmed with an accuracy of at least 99.9 % where they exist.

Summary

Paternity testing using SNPs is a very reliable method for Japanese and is widely used to reliably prove parent-child relationships. However, although paternity testing is also possible with SNPs, STRs are still more common.