Today we marvel in the world of DNA, it’s continually progressing to the point that today you can take a simple paternity test with an over the counter kit.
DNA profiling has been around since the 1980s when Kary Mullins, before Dr Alec Jeffreys made fingerprinting available to the public.
A huge step forward for criminal investigations, fingerprinting was first used on two cases, a rape and a murder, in 1983 and 1986 in Leicestershire, and policing in this way has never really looked back.
The advancement of DNA of course stretches much further back. Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species changed the way we view the world, while the principles of genetics and as late as 1953, the double helix structure was found.
By the 1990s discoveries were in full flow. At the beginning of the decade, scientists found the gene that increased the likelihood of developing breast and ovarian cancer, and by 1996 the major scientific breakthrough that was Dolly the Sheep shook the world.
Since then, more animals have had their genetics decoded and in 2003, the Human Genome Project was completed.
What this did was map the entire sequence of the human genome system and included 2.85 billion nucleotides, marking a huge step forward in the world of genetics.
Huge steps forward have continued to be the order of the day, helping recognize hereditary illnesses, early signs of disease and even allowing for DIY testing.
The latter has been a huge advancement for paternity tests. The ability to buy a test has allowed us to determine family much easier, helping develop ancestry and determine parents both quickly and simply.
It’s taken away the stigma of having to visit a doctor, with people able to send a sample of hair, saliva, even a toothbrush, through the post to be tested.
There are dozens of sites available, with the best dna test sites offering 99.9999% reliability.
The next few years will only see DNA testing advance further, helping solve crimes more easily, determine parents quicker, and most importantly let people upload dna data to advance the cure of disease.
The cure for cancer is naturally the one area that doctors continue to strive for. Advancements are being made each and every day, with nanoparticle technology being a potential game changer in the way people are treated.
Either way, the familiarity scientists are now having is furthering with every technological breakthrough and its having a hugely progressive impact on our lives.
