Revision summary
Older tests excluded alleged fathers with blood groups and HLA. STR DNA profiling can strongly include a man as biological father. Y-STRs track the male line; mtDNA does not decide paternity. Prenatal tests can use fetal DNA in maternal blood. Kinship still distinguishes social pater from genitor.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
Disputed paternity is a legal and kinship claim about who the genitor is. Anthropology already knew social fatherhood. Recent techniques name a biological probability.
Body
The older kit
- Blood groups (ABO, Rh) could exclude a man. They could not prove him. Landsteiner made the first serological exclusions.
- HLA and protein polymorphisms raised the power of exclusion but still left many men unexcluded.
- Kinship systems already split genitor and pater, as in older Nayar visiting husbands or Trobriand beliefs about conception. The lab does not erase the social father.
Recent techniques
- DNA profiling, after Alec Jeffreys, uses STRs (short tandem repeats). A child must match one allele at each locus from the alleged father, barring mutation.
- Multiplex STR kits, used in Indian forensic labs, yield paternity indices and very high probabilities when the mother is tested too.
- Y-chromosome STRs follow the paternal line. Mitochondrial DNA follows the mother and does not decide paternity.
- SNP arrays and sequencing can work on degraded samples. Non-invasive prenatal paternity tests use fetal DNA in maternal blood.
- Limits: twins, close relatives as alternative fathers, mutations, and chain-of-custody. Ethics of consent and of revealing incest or infidelity sit with the result.
Anthropological caution
- A probability is not a kinship system. Malinowski’s Trobriand pater remains a jural person even when a lab names another genitor.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD DP[Disputed paternity] --> EX[Blood group exclusion] DP --> DNA[STR DNA probability] DNA --> LAW[Court index] DP --> SOC[Pater vs genitor]
Conclusion
Exclusion began with blood groups. STR DNA now assigns high probability to a biological father. Social paternity and laboratory paternity must still be named apart.
Quick related
Students also ask
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What is Anthropometry? Discuss its role in assessing the nutritional status and sports capability of a person
Next question on this syllabus topic (2021 · Q7(c)). View answer →
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Can DNA be 100 percent proof?
Labs report probability. Mutation and an untested close relative keep a theoretical gap.
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Does a DNA father gain custody automatically?
Law and custom decide rights. Biology is evidence, not the whole of kinship.
Same topic · past papers
UPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2024 · Q7(c) · Anthropology GS 1 · 15 marks
Discuss the applicability of various sampling techniques in selecting the study group.
More from this topic
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Serogenetics uses blood groups and serum protein markers for paternity disputes, Rh incompatibility, and fertility-related polymorphism. Cytogenetics uses karyotyping to detect numerical and structural chromosomal defects behind miscarriage and congenital disorders. IVF, ICSI and PGD extend these tools into clinical reproduction. Ethical flashpoints include commercial surrogacy, commodification of reproduction, eugenic selection through PGD, and unclear parentage when donors are involved. India's ART and Surrogacy Acts, 2021, aim to regulate practice while protecting dignity.
Q8(c) · UPSC Mains 2025 · Anthropology GS 1 · 15 marks · Solution
Examine the utility of human remains in forensic analysis. Discuss the facial reconstruction technique
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Forensic anthropology estimates sex, age, stature and trauma from bones and teeth, and it records context. Krogman and Stewart standardised osteological identification. DNA STRs and dentistry confirm identity when references exist. Clyde Snow’s human-rights cases show remains as testimony. Facial reconstruction uses tissue-depth markers, as in Gerasimov and Gatliff, now often with CT and 3D prints. The face is an approximation to prompt recognition, not a certain portrait. Ethics include family consent and no racial or caste over-claim.
Q6(a) · UPSC Mains 2025 · Anthropology GS 1 · 20 marks · Solution
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