The New York Times reports that the Rite Aid chain of drug stores is selling paternity tests at some shops in California, Oregon and Washington.
The test, sold under the brand name Identigene, has a suggested list price of $29.99, though a reporter purchased one at a Rite Aid in Santa Monica, Calif., for $19.99. There is an additional laboratory fee of $119 to have the samples analyzed….
The box contains three sets of cotton swabs to collect cheek samples from the child, the alleged father and the mother. (The mother is optional but helps strengthen the results, the company says.) The swabs are put into separate packets and mailed to Sorenson’s laboratory in Salt Lake City. Results are provided by mail, fax or on a password-protected Web site within five days of the laboratory receiving the samples.
DNA is moving from the research lab to the real world at an amazing rate. This story comes just a week after 23andMe began offering its own DNA-based service, one that uses saliva to analyze a customer’s genes and gage his or her risk of getting various diseases.
Popularity: 3% [?]
Entries (RSS)