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Sample Collection and Shipment

Personal DNA Testing:
For personal curiosity or confirmation.
Test result has no legality and is not admissible in court. One or more individuals collect the samples and there is no way to confirm who gave the sample. You can take the sample at home and mail it in.
OR
Legal DNA Testing:
For court or legal purposes such as inheritance, immigration and forensic investigation.
It requires all parties go to a designated collection site so that a Chain of Custody can be established. Chain of Custody is a process used to document the history of sampling (who has the sample and at what time). At the collection site, the test subjects are required to furnish personal information (e.g. address, phone number, and personal photos) and IDs, sign consent papers, and be thumb-printed. No one else can provide samples or take the test for you.


The following 3 methods are most commonly used and yield identical DNA testing results in our hands:

(a) Buccal swab - A set of 2 sterile Dacron cotton swabs (1 for spare) in sterile plastic tubes are used. Label the tubes with the name of the subject
under test, the date when the sample was taken and other information if needed. Rinse mouth with water, rub the right and left cheeks inside the
mouth 5-10 times with a swab. Insert swabs back into tubes and seal. Repeat sampling using the other swab. Refrigerate or freeze swabs. The
swab can be air-dried before re-inserting into the tube..

  • Easy and quick, painless, most suitable for children but equally good for adults
  • Provides a true genomic DNA sample without complication from blood or bone marrow transplantation
  • Dried cotton swabs (e.g. by using an hair drier) can be mailed
  • Mainly for STR and polymarker analysis
 
   
1. Take two buccal cell samples using two pre-sterilized Dacron cotton swabs commonly used in clinics.   2. Label each swab container with the name of the test subject, the date when the sample was taken, and the sample ID (if available). Break the seal and withdraw the swab from the tube.   3.
Rub the left and right cheeks inside the mouth 5 to 10 times. This will collect sufficient cheek epithelial cells for DNA testing. Do not touch the handle and the swab by bare hands or talk while sampling. Insert the swab back inside the tube and make sure it is tightly closed.
Sampling Cellular DNA in the Oral Cavity Using a Buccal Swab   4.
Repeat using the second swab. Send both swabs to GenePro as soon as possible. If not, store the swabs in the freezer, or dry the cotton ball with a hair dryer before putting it back inside the tube. The air-dried swabs can be kept at room temperature and sent by mail.
         
 

(b) Hair with roots - Pull 2 . 3 hair from the scalp (no white or cut hair), and put them in a clean plastic bag. Do not wrap hair with a tissue paper.
Label and seal the bag. Refrigerate or freeze if the sample is not sent to the laboratory immediately.

  • can be used for both STR and mitochondrial DNA analysis
  • easy and quick, can be sent by mail
  • highly confidential, most suitable for cases in which the subject(s) under test does not know that he/she is being tested

(c) Venous blood - A medical professional collects 1-2 ml of venous blood in a sterile tube containing an anti-coagulant. Seal and label the tube,
followed by refrigerating or freezing the sample. The blood can also be dropped onto a FTA paper and dried.

  • this is the preferred sample for RFLP analysis when a large amount of intact genomic DNA is required
  • do not collect blood from an individual who has received a blood or bone marrow transplant
  • do not send blood samples by mail.
 

ALL cells/tissues or objects containing cellular DNA are suitable as sample for DNA testing, such as*:

  • „h Blood and blood stain
  • „h Buccal Cells : cheek, saliva and saliva stain, cigarette butt, drinking straw, tissue paper, tooth brush
  • „h Reproductive organ cells: semen and semen stains, vaginal swab and vaginal stains, condoms, tissue paper, cloths & linens
  • „h Hair with root: scalp, facial, body, pubic
  • „h Urine, feces, ear wax
  • „h Tissue: biopsy, autopsy, paraffin embedded slides, razor blade
  • „h Hard tissues: bone (recent or ancient), nail, tooth

*SAME BODY, DIFFERENT CELLULAR SOURCES, SAME DNA, IDENTICAL RESULTS!

Our customer service representative will schedule and assist sample collection, and act as a witness in legal cases.
Full names and IDs, photographs, addresses, and telephone numbers of persons under test, plus the date of collection and the witness are required for tests used for legal purposes. Sampling is best to be done at GenePro.

A GenePro Test Request form is available for documentation purpose.
 
Please consult us at Address : 1608-1609, 16/F Grandtech Centre, 8 On Ping Street, Shatin, Hong Kong
  Phone : (852) 2815-5131
  Fax : (852) 2815-5102
  E-mail : wwhcc@geneprolab.com