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Genetic DNA testing to evaluate paternity/parentage is possible because our biological characteristics are passed from generation to generation following the basic rules of inheritance. These rules have been known for more than a century. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which is a very stable and strictly inherited molecule, encodes all genetic information and determines our biological characteristics. Modern DNA paternity testing relies on the fact that we can detect and study "DNA markers" at specific structural regions of the DNA. Many different DNA markers exist in the general population. However, only two such DNA markers exist in any one individual. A child inherits one DNA marker from the mother and one from the father. A DNA test begins by learning which DNA markers are present in the child and the mother. It is then possible to determine which of the child's DNA markers was inherited from the mother and which was inherited from the biological father. To evaluate paternity and complete a paternity test, a series of DNA tests is performed on the biological specimens provided by the mother, child, and alleged father. When the DNA Profiles™ of this trio are compared to each other, the paternity test will provide two possible results; the alleged father will be either included or excluded as the biological father of the child.