ONE man has separated from his wife over confusion about whether he has fathered a child by another woman. Another couple has had contact severed with a child they had believed to be their grandchild, and had been building a relationship with. And a French child鈥檚 birth certificate bears the name of a man who is not his father, which red tape prevents being changed until he is 18.
These are just a few of the consequences of a company faking DNA test results. High Profile DNA of Poole in the UK used the internet to advertise motherless DNA testing 鈥� where samples from only the child and its possible father are analysed 鈥� and sent test kits to customers. Because motherless DNA testing is not allowed without the mother鈥檚 permission in the UK, returned samples were sent to labs in Canada and the US. But in 2002, company director Simon Mullane faked the results of around 150 tests: instead of sending off the samples, he changed the names on genuine test results.
The scandal was revealed only when one customer rang a Canadian laboratory directly to check the results. The lab denied having received her samples, let alone testing them. She then went to the police.
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Mullane pleaded guilty to theft and was sentenced to three years in prison last week. 鈥淢r Mullane preyed on people鈥檚 very human need to know whether they were or were not the father of a child,鈥� said Detective Inspector Tony Cox of Dorset police.
The UK鈥檚 Human Genetics Commission, which advises the government on all aspects of genetic testing, says that it will consider whether to recommend tighter regulation.