Can hair be used for DNA testing?

Nowadays, there are many TV dramas of various types, and people learn a lot of knowledge from TV dramas. However, a lot of the knowledge in the TV series is simply summarized, and some are even wrong, because art comes from life and excellence comes from life. People often see paternity testing in TV dramas, so can hair be used for DNA testing? You can learn more about the details.

1. Hair can be used for paternity testing.

Hair can be used for paternity testing because DNA can be extracted from the hair follicles for paternity testing. Generally, the hair used for identification should be pulled out by yourself, with the roots attached to the hair follicles. When you comb your hair, you may pull a few strands of hair out. The hair follicle is the small white or transparent head at the root of the hair, which can usually be identified.

Hair is the most widely used and common sample in paternity testing. Many people will first consider collecting hair for paternity testing, especially in personal privacy paternity testing. The identification center has received a lot of hair samples, including those that have been stored for a long time, those without hair follicles, those that have been cut, those that have been contaminated, etc. Among them, cut hair is completely unsuitable for paternity testing.

2. Collection Method

Grasp the hair about 4 cm away from the root with your hand and quickly pull out 5-10 hairs (clear hair follicles can be seen at the end of the hair, that is, the white substance at the root of the hair).

III. [Notes]

1. When collecting hair, be sure to wash your hands and hair to ensure they are clean.

2. It is best to dry the plucked hair at room temperature for a few minutes before putting it into a bag, because the newly collected hair has a high viscosity. If it is put into the bag immediately, the hair follicles may stick to the wall of the bag, affecting the extraction of DNA.

3. To ensure the test results and quality, please do not mail fallen hair or hair that has been left for a long time after being plucked out.

4. The hair of different people should be stored separately and marked.

4. [Warm Reminder]

If you are taking samples for yourself or your child, it is recommended that you use a non-invasive oral swab as the sample. If the child is under 5 years old, you can use an oral swab or blood stain as the test sample. It is best not to collect hair because the child is still young and the hair is relatively thin and sparse, so the amount of DNA contained in the hair is relatively small.