Accreditations & Reliability
The accreditation is recognition of a service in a given field.
It makes it possible to highlight the competence of an organization and reports on a mandatory process within the framework of a regulation.
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Accreditation is based on references and standards defining requirements with regard to the technical competence and implementation of a management system.
Genetic Accreditation
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a non-governmental organization which aims to produce international standards in the industrial and commercial fields called ISO standards.
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ISO standards are useful to industrial and economic organisations of all kinds, in both public and private sectors, and ultimately serve the interests of the general public when acting as consumers and users.
The ISO/IEC 17025 standard makes it possible to establish the general requirements concerning the competence of calibration and test laboratories.
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It defines a certain number of requirement criteria with regard to the competence of the personnel, the analysis procedure, the maintenance of the equipment, as well as the organization of the general processes used to generate the data .
The use of this standard promotes cooperation between laboratories and other organizations.
It facilitates the exchange of information and the sharing of experience, and helps to harmonize procedures.
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Laboratories must therefore ensure that their working methods guarantee control of their operations and the reliability of their data.
Thus this international reference makes it possible to demonstrate the ability of laboratories to produce reliable results while respecting quality standards widely recognised by different countries around the world.
Accreditations help laboratories deliver services with confidence and attract new customers.
It demonstrates that a laboratory has the necessary skills to manage and carry out the activities defined in its scope of accreditations for a given program.
The reliability of a DNA test
When you want to do a DNA test, the question of reliability always arises:
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How can you be sure that the results provided by the laboratory are reliable?
The question is all the more important since this generally has significant consequences in people's lives. Thus several factors come into play in the confidence that you can bring to your results.
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The accreditation of laboratories ensures that the analysis methods meet the standards corresponding to DNA processing and thus promise reliable results. In this sense, the comparison of profiles can only rarely be subject to irregularities since it is checked several times and generally processed by two teams who must note the same result .
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Mostly if an error is found, it happens on the use of samples that did not correspond to the client's request, such as an inversion in the declarations of the participants and their samples.
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Therefore, be sure to clearly define your requests during your declaration and organize your samples in order to avoid uncertainties during the analysis .
Laboratory Accreditation
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It is very important before ordering a test to communicate with your laboratory in order to explain your personal situation.
Genetics is a very unique thing that concerns your intimacy and your family relationships.
Therefore, the slightest doubt or assumption can radically change the choice of test and its reliability . It is therefore very important to be aware of the risks and above all to understand what the test can bring you.
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For example:
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A search for paternity between a father and a daughter could logically be done using a simple paternity test.
But if the doubt of paternity relates to another man of the same family as the father (like a brother) then the two presumed fathers must take part in the test.
If one of the two cannot participate then the test cannot be done. If the girl's mother participates in the test, we can do it without the second father, but with reduced reliability.
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The effectiveness of a test depends on your statement, without prior advice you will not be able to ensure the reliability of your results. We offer tools on infotestadn.com that will help you better understand DNA tests.
If you cannot find the information about you, you can always contact us.
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Contact with the laboratory is also recommended.
The declaration of the participants
The DNA laboratory must be Accredited
The authenticity of the results of a genealogy or relationship DNA test depends on the seriousness and expertise of the laboratory that performs it.
To ensure the reliability of the results, it is important to check the accreditation of the laboratory.
This is granted by the international ISO bodies, which regularly check the rigorous criteria in terms of analysis methods, staff training and equipment.
If you wish, the laboratory must be able to provide you with a recent certificate, attesting to its reliability.
Our list of verified laboratories
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We carefully select the laboratories offering online DNA testing, ensuring that they comply with international standards for accreditation and protection of genetic data.
We thus guarantee you superior quality services, while respecting the privacy and security of your genetic information.
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In the situation where you do not have control over the collection of samples and there is doubt about the follow-up of instructions or intentions by the participants. You have the option of calling on a doctor to vouch for the follow-up of the procedure.
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Before placing an order, you can therefore contact a doctor in order to put him in confidence about your approach. The doctor can receive the kit directly from the laboratory and then summon the participants to take the samples.
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In this sense, the doctor takes care of verifying the identity of the participants tested, makes sure to respect the sampling instructions, as well as the documents necessary for the laboratory. In addition, the doctor can pay for the return of the samples with the carrier.
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This approach assures you:
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- a rigour in the sampling instructions,
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- a verification of the identity of the participants,
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- of course reliability in the results.
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Because the doubt of a possibility on the exchange of samples or a dishonest maneuver is dismissed.
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This verification can also be very useful when the participants are in different countries.
Call a Doctor for DNA samples
How to check the genetic sample?
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Not all DNA tests are equal on the probability ratio they offer and depending on the basic situation several tests are possible and some more reliable than others.
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As a general rule, it is always advisable to do DNA testing directly with the person concerned . Consequently, the result will be indubitable and you will have a simple and clear answer to your questions.
The type of Genetic test
The tests that we recommend to focus on:
The paternity test
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If the father is available, always try to test with him.
The reliability is 100% for a negative result and 99% for a positive result.
He will then give you a clear answer on the biological link between the two participants
The Maternity test
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If the mother is available, always try to test with her.
The reliability is 100% for a negative result and 99% for a positive result.
He will then give you a clear answer on the biological link between the two participants
The test of
Y-chromosome
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Y chromosome test allows with certainty of defining whether two men are of the same paternal line.
Since this Y chromosome is exactly the same from father to son, the comparison gives a reliability of 100% for a negative result and 99% for a positive result.
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The test of
X-chromosome
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The genetic analysis of Chromosome X gives the possibility of a search for paternity between sisters.
The comparison of this chromosome inherited from the father must necessarily be identical between biological sisters.
Thus, the relationship can be determined precisely with a positive or negative answer.
In addition, this research can also be applied between the paternal grandmother and her granddaughter.
The mitochondrial DNA test
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The mitochondrial DNA test allows with certainty to define if two people are issues from the same maternal line.
Since mitochondrial DNA is transmitted identically from the mother to all her children, giving 100% reliability for a negative result and 99% for a positive result
The prenatal paternity test
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The particularity of this test is that you have no other possibility than to test the mother and the presumed father to define the biological link with the fetus.
But because of this, since the comparison is direct, the reliability remains the same as for the simple paternity test.
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If the situation does not allow you to do a test directly with the person concerned, you still have the possibility of doing indirect DNA tests with members of your family in order to determine a biological relationship.
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But please keep in mind that indirect tests are based on probabilities and statistics, which greatly reduce reliability in expressing results. It does not mean that the tests can be wrong, it means that according to the situation it will not be able to determine with sufficiency the precision a relationship between participants. Which might, in some cases, not answer the relationship question.
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In this sense, the reliability of indirect tests will depend on the initial family situation and the number of test participants. Because the more genetic information the laboratory has, the easier it will be to be able to determine a biological relationship between two or more participants.
Indirect relationship tests
Sibling Test
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To increase the reliability of a brotherhood test, you must already bien specify the basic statement, according to which you will determine a search for fraternity or half-fraternity.
In addition, it is always recommended to compare people of opposite sexes.
And if possible to always be able to include the mother(s) in the test
The avuncular test
(uncle and aunt)
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To increase the reliability of an avuncular test, you must already be sure of the relation biological relationship between the parent sought and his sister or uncle.
And always if possible, include the mother of the child in the test
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The parentage test of grandparents
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To increase the reliability of a grandparent parentage test, you should already be sure of the relationship biological between the parent sought and his own biological parents.
In addition, both grandparents must participate in the test with the child.
And always if possible, include the mother of the child in the test
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The reliability of the results does not depend on the type of sample , but not all samples reliably provide enough genetic information to do a DNA test .
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The first difficulty for the laboratory is to extract the DNA present on the sample in order to analyze it. In this, the use of buccal swabs provides great reliability on DNA extraction if the instructions have been followed correctly.
The type of DNA sample
But it is always possible to use non-standard samples, which are less reliable, but can provide a solution if saliva sampling is not possible.