What Is Blood DNA Testing?

Blood has always been one of the most commonly used bodily fluids for all kinds of testing.

They have used it for everything from pregnancy testing to screening for HIV or almost any other kind of diseases. It is still used by every hospital and chances are you have had a blood test or two in your lifetime already. Now, they can incorporate DNA testing at the same time as a standard blood test because every blood cell has DNA in it. This is a great way to kill two birds with one stone. Since you are going in for blood work, you might as well have them put your DNA on file at the same time. Depending on where you live and what you would like them to do with your DNA, the prices on this will vary greatly.

Criminal investigators have an easy time with evidence collection and convicting criminals when there is blood involved. It is hard to clean up, can get in all kinds of nooks and crannies that might be overlooked by an individual and it splatters. If someone was to go into a house and shoot another person, there is a large chance some blood will land on them or their clothing. Unless it is immediately disposed of, this clothing can be tested and a forensic pathologist can extract DNA from it. The DNA is analyzed and a profile is made if that profile matches the DNA of the victim. They can arrest their suspect and easily move on to the conviction process. Once this DNA is entered into a nationwide database, if the criminal was responsible for older, unsolved crimes, it will match him to the cases and more charges will be added. This helps many families get some peace of mind as someone who has hurt them is finally held responsible.

The use of DNA blood testing has more applications than just putting criminals behind bars however. Old blood can sometimes retain some DNA inside and police and other agencies now have the ability to go back to closed cases that remain unsolved and apply this new technology to them. They have solved many old cases that date back decades by extracting DNA from bloodstains. It doesn't always work but there is a good chance that it will.

DNA found in blood can be used to help medical researchers find out if there are any anomalies that might make you a potential carrier or sufferer of a genetic disease. Cystic fibrosis is a good example of an inherited disease that is passed on through the DNA. As science in this area advances, the odds of finding a cure or better treatment methods increase. This offers many people great hope that one day they will be cured of their illness and won't pass it on to their children. They screen unborn babies for many different types of inherited disease already and use that information to help parents prepare themselves for the future of their children and to decide the best courses of action to take.