The World's Premier Home Paternity Testing Service

An article in Live Science reports on a study that used a DNA testing technique called “pyrosequencing” to assess the number of species of bacteria present in a sample. According to the article,

In sheer numbers, the mammalian colon harbors one of the densest microbial communities found on Earth. For every human cell in your body, there are roughly 10 single-celled microbes, most of which live in your digestive tract.

[. . . ]

Pyrosequencing generates extremely large numbers of small DNA “tags” copied from the genes of organisms being examined. Species can be sorted out from each other by looking at variations in DNA sequences that code for a molecule universal among all living cells.

Having a lot of bacteria in our digestive systems does not mean it’s all bad. Intestinal microbes perform functions crucial to the human body, including keeping the immune system balanced and producing essential vitamins. If the intestinal microbe population is thrown off-balance, such as in the case of taking antibiotics, other harmful bacteria may take their place—hence many scientists’ concerns about over-prescribing antibiotics.

An Asian health publication reports that a Singaporean company is offering DNA testing that claims to predict a child’s genetic predisposition to certain skills, such as intelligence, emotional quotient (EQ) and entrepreneurship. It is also offering another test to determine susceptibility to over 100 genetic diseases.

Personal genetic testing has been gaining attention in the media this year, with companies offering genome scanning services or direct to consumer testing for specific inherited diseases. Many concerns have been raised about access to genetic information, particularly when it comes to medical genetics, without the benefit of a genetic counselor or medical professional.

The topic of DNA testing for aptitude and talent in areas of intelligence and sports is even more controversial. The factors affecting such characteristics are complex and diverse, notwithstanding the effect of the environment. The article cites geneticist Peter Scambler, who noted that “On an individual basis, it is not possible to identify whether a child would be predisposed to possess certain talents. One must also keep in mind that a gene accounts for only 2 to 3 per cent of the variation in, say, athletic performance.”

UPDATE: Eye on DNA posts this comment, including links to related science blog discussions on the topic.

A CNN article reports that DNA testing on a shark pup carried by a female blacktip shark proved that the pup was the product of parthenogenesis, a phenomenon observed in nature in which a female bears offspring without the involvement of a male member of the species. Using methods similar to a human DNA paternity test, scientists compared the DNA profiles of the mother and pup and found that both had exactly the same DNA profile. Normally, only half of the pup’s DNA is from the mother, and half comes from its father’s DNA.

The mother, dubbed “Tidbit,” was caught in the wild when she was very young and reached sexual maturity in a tank at the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach, where she lived for eight years. During the entire time of her captivity, there were no other male blacktip sharks in the tank. Unfortunately, Tidbit died during a routine medical exam, and it was during the examination that the nearly-full term pup was found inside her womb.

Tidbit’s case is the only the second in which the “virgin birth” phenomenon was observed and proven via DNA testing. The first case involved a hammerhead shark born in a Nebraska zoo in 2001.

A new film about Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) has revealed that he may have a second living descendant, Nadia Manfredi, who has asked for a DNA test to find out the truth.

Puccini composed many of the frequently-performed operas in musicians’ standard repertoires today, including La Bohéme, Tosca, and Madama Butterfly. Like the passionate dramas his operas portrayed, his own life (particularly his love life) has not been bereft of intrigue. The new film, titled “Puccini e la Fanciulla” (Puccini and the Girl), which premiered at the Venice film festival, suggests he had an affair with a maidservant’s cousin, Giulia Manfredi. Manfredi’s granddaughter, Nadia Manfredi, is now seeking to prove this relationship through a DNA test.

In 1978, Simonetta Pucini, currently the only living heir to Puccini’s estate and legacy, won a legal battle to prove that she was the illegitimate daughter of Puccini’s son Antonio. She inherited most of his estate, including a villa in Torre del Lago, which is now a museum and archive. With the news of another possible new heir, she has asked local residents to sign a petition to protect his memory from what she dismisses as local gossip.

This week brings an interesting piece of news regarding doggie DNA testing. A town just east of Tel Aviv, Israel, is planning to use DNA testing to fight the problem of dog poop in public places. According to a news report, the city of Petah Tikva is requesting community residents to stop by and register their dog’s DNA sample with the municipal vet.

In return, dog owners who clean up and deposit their dog’s poop at designated containers will be rewarded with dog food coupons and toys for their pets after DNA testing has identified the owner. Those who do not clean up, and whose samples are matched to the registry, maybe subject to a municipal fine.

The plan, which is undergoing a 6-month trial, is currently voluntary and has received positive feedback from pet-owners so far, who in general want a clean neighborhood. If the trial succeeds, the city plans to make dog DNA registration mandatory.

Eye on DNA this week reported that Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert is among an elite group of people whose digitized DNA is being sent off into space for the project, Operation Immortality.

Conceived by Richard Garriot, whose claim to fame is creating the Tabula Rasa video game, the goal for the project is to “save a history of humanity’s greatest achievements, digitized human DNA, and personal messages from people all over the world.” This “saved game” is to be delivered and stored on the International Space Station on October 12 by Garriot himself.

Also sending in their digitized DNA are Silicon Valley celebrities Kevin Rose, creator of the social-bookmarking website Digg, Robert Scoble, one of the world’s most popular tech bloggers and Tim Draper, founder of the venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

A New Scientist article reports on a study suggesting moms’ and dads’ facial features may influence a person’s choice for their mate.

Women tend to date guys that look like their fathers, but men tend to be attracted to women that look like their mothers. The Hungarian biologist Tamas Bereczkei observed 67 long-term couples and their parents, taking measurements of facial features such as the face length to width ratio, as well as nose and mouth dimensions.

According to the study’s results, the face of a woman’s boyfriend more closely resembles her father’s than the faces of other males in the study, particularly in measurements for features closer to the center of the face. Men, on the other hand, dated women whose lower facial features (jaw and lip area) tended to match those of their mothers.

Whether or not this is a function of genetics or environment (for example, if this phenomenon is observed in families with adopted children) is a question not addressed by the article, and a possibility for future study. Regardless, the findings of the study shows another reason for strong family resemblances.

As reported by The New York Times, two high school students embarked on a science project that revealed mislabeled or misrepresented fish found in restaurants and grocery stores in New York.

They used DNA testing to identify the different fish, and found that in 25% of the 60 fish tested, inexpensive fish were being sold as expensive fish. In one instance, a piece of sushi sold as the luxury treat white tuna turned out to be Mozambique tilapia, a much cheaper, farmed fish.

While the sample size in this project was too small to serve as incriminating evidence against the businesses in the area, the experiment serves as another example of the many possible uses of DNA testing today.

The series of widely spread news stories about a bigfoot find, which started earlier this month, came to definitive close when DNA test results released Friday on two submitted specimens revealed that one specimen was from a human and the other sample contained 96% opossum DNA.

The following Monday, reports revealed that the supposed bigfoot body, which was thawed out for further “investigation,” was indeed a rubber suit.

According to a Telegraph online article, a Spanish woman is seeking a posthumous DNA test on the famous 20th century artist Salvador Dali. The woman, identified only as Pilar A, claims that she is Dali’s illegitimate daughter, the product of an affair between the surrealist painter and Pilar’s mother, a maid at a home in the same town where Dali and his family lived.

After DNA tests on medical samples kept in storage after Dali’s death in 1989 proved inconclusive, additional DNA testing was carried out on the samples, but Pilar’s attorney says the results have not been released to her. “If necessary we will ultimately request the exhumation of his corpse,” the lawyer said in the article.

Salvado Dali was born in 1904 and was one of the most famous surrealist painters of the 20th century. His work was considered to be very imaginative and even strikingly bizarre, and his painting skills are said to have been heavily influenced by Renaissance masters. Dali’s paintings were and continue to be purchased and distributed by art connoisseurs from around the world.

Speaking of the great wealth she could stand to inherit if DNA proves Dali is in fact her father, Pilar A has said that her motivation lies not in the monetary compensation she could receive, but rather her “need to discover the true identity of my father.”