NMG Health Reporter
If you were hoping to test the fidelity of your wife or baby mama at a cost Sh800, sorry, that might not be happening.
The home DNA test kit that is said to be available in pharmacies and supermarkets at a cost of Sh750- Sh800 is actually only a simple collection kit or swab and not a test kit.
While clarifying, Dr Ahmed Kalebi, a consultant pathologist based in Nairobi, explained that for the actual DNA test, the sample collected has to be mailed or shipped to the laboratory where the testing fee is a minimum Sh16,000.
“Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of misinformation going round perpetuated by social media comments suggesting that the DNA test only costs Sh800. That is not true. The test costs more than Sh 16,000,” Dr Kalebi explained in a series of tweets on his official account.
According to the Bioinformatics Institute of Kenya (KIBS), a leading provider of DNA testing and DNA sequencing services, the DNA paternity test is carried out to determine if a man is actually the biological father of a child.
“Our standard 24-marker DNA test involves comparison of 24 different genetic markers in the DNA of the child, father and mother.
The DNA test is based on the fact that 50 percent of a child’s DNA is inherited from the father and 50 percent from the mother,” KIBS explains.
The 24-marker DNA test costs Sh10,000 per person and a total of Sh20,000 for both the alleged father and the child.
A 44-marker DNA test costs Sh17, 500 per person.
They also conduct the prenatal paternity test which is done before a baby is born to determine whether a particular man is the real biological father of the unborn baby.
There is also the sibling DNA test which involves comparing a child with his or her sibling and is usually carried out if it is impossible to test the alleged parent.
Courtesy of Nation Media Group
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