DNA-Family History Activity For Kids

For each person you will need: A printed family tree chartEight circles with a patterned printFour circles of a solid colour A - let’s say Red, but it doesn’t matterTwo...
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The Paternity Reveal

For most of history, one essential, immutable difference between men and women was that men could hide the fact that they had created a child and women could not. Pregnancy...
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How a DNA Testing Kit Revealed a Family Secret Hidden for 54 Years

One evening in the winter of 2016, my husband mentioned that he was sending away for one of those commercial DNA-testing kits. He asked if I wanted him to order...
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DNA from Postage Stamps or Hair Samples? Yeeesssss…..

DNA profiles can now sometimes be extracted from a licked stamp, used razor or hair with the root attached (not just cut hair) and even other items. These kinds of...
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Breaking Down a Maxxam Forensic Report

A forensic report is the formal release of results for all the testing that has been performed on the items that were submitted in a case. If a case is...
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UNDERSTANDING FORENSIC DNA AND STATISTICS

While the DNAlab, a division of Maxxam Analytics International Corporation, is the leading paternity/immigration DNA testing facility in Canada, it is also home to the premiere Forensic DNA testing facility...
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The History of DNA

What is DNA?  When and how was it discovered?  How do we use it to determine relationships between people?  These are some questions you might be asking yourself.  Let’s take...
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Introduction to Bloodstain Pattern Analysis

One of the techniques and analyses used to assist investigators is bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA). Bloodstain pattern analysis refers to the analysis of the size, shape and distribution of bloodstains...
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Special Samples – Submission of non-standard samples for DNA testing

What is the typical type of sample collected? To understand what qualifies as a special sample it is important to first understand what the common types of samples collected are....
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