Legal perspectives of paternity testing in animals and humans: A review

DNA fingerprinting has its extensive use from the establishment of personal identity to resolve civil and criminal disputes. DNA technology nowadays is widely used for kinship and paternity analysis. Many countries have permitted the legal validity of DNA technology for its wide acceptance in law. DNA technology involves the unique properties of the DNA i.e., short tandem repeats (STRs), single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and small insertion or deletion polymorphism (InDels) on account of which the paternity, parentage, or kinship is determined. Paternity testing has many uses in both humans and animals, but simultaneously it has many hurdles and challenges i.e., Fraudulent lab results, Infertility or sterility, Paternity frauds, Legal complications, and Accuracy of markers. In the Indian legal system, it is required to overcome the drawbacks in law to use DNA tests as an investigation tool for investigating agencies. In this article, there is a brief outlook on the wide acceptance of DNA technology for paternity testing around the globe contrary to the Indian legal system. Around the globe, many developed countries have adopted uniform model codes or statutory laws and regulations for paternity, and parentage testing but India is lacking behind due to the non-availability of any law or regulation that legally validates the DNA technology. It is suggested that in India, National Commission should be enacted to regulate DNA tests, examinations, and profiling in the laboratories and courts by enacting certain uniform guidelines for collecting, handling the samples, and performing laboratory tests.