CALCULATION OF PATERNITY PROBABILITIES FROM MULTILOCUS DNA PROFILES

We describe a procedure for evaluation of paternity evidence from mult i-locus DNA probe patterns. A computer program abstracts a ''+/-'' not ation description from the multilocus profile and then calculates a pa ternity index based on observed phenotypic fragment frequencies. The b iostatistical evaluation considers only bands found in the child and m issing from the mother - a simplified approach that is at once robust and conservative. Mutations are of course taken into account. Particul ar features lending objectivity to the interpretation include computer reading and matching decisions, and specific recognition and statisti cal compensation for ambiguities (''faint orphans'').