Paternity Can Now Be Determined During Pregnancy: Ministry of Justice Expands Forensic Research

The Center for Forensic Science of the Ministry of Justice has announced an expansion of its research services. Bakhytzhan Baitilesov, the director of the department, shared this update during a briefing at the Central Communications Service.

According to the Director, the new forensic test allows for the determination of a child's biological father during pregnancy without any risk to the fetus or the mother. The analysis requires only a sample of venous blood from the pregnant woman.

During the process, the cell-free fetal DNA is isolated from the mother's blood and analyzed. The accuracy for confirming or excluding paternity reaches 99.75%, and the test can be performed as early as the 10th obstetric week of pregnancy.

Prior to the implementation of this technology, official forensic paternity testing could only be conducted after the child was born.

Additionally, the Center plans to acquire new equipment for the identification of unidentified individuals. This technology can reconstruct the physical appearance of a deceased person from a DNA sample, determining traits such as eye color, hair shade, and other physical characteristics. Similar technologies are widely used in developed countries for criminal investigations, identifying disaster victims, and establishing the identity of individuals who died under unknown circumstances.