Proving paternity using DNA

[northj]

If a father has died and been cremated and the mother was not known, can you prove if you are his daughter using DNA taken from his sister,cousin or other relations and if so is it accurate and legally accepted?

[jake-the-peg]

You inherit your mitocondrial DNA from your mother unalterred. Siblings will have identical mitocondrial DNA.

So this method can be used to validate a common mother.

It was used to confirm the identity of the Romanov bodies Using DNA from the Duke of Edinburgh who had a common female line of descent.

I'd imagine that Paternity could be proved statistically via standard DNA techniques but I can't help you with the legal requirements for admissibility in that case I'm afraid

[woofgang]

dunno about legal paternity but they have just caught a rapist using DNA from a male relative, it was in the news on tuesday