Application of DNA fingerprinting to parentage and extended family relationship testing.

For the purpose of applying DNA fingerprinting to parentage or other extended blood relationship testing, we have developed a general system for estimating blood relationship between a set of individuals. This system can be used for any blood relationship testing, even if critical family members are unavailable. A general formula for calculating the probability of such relationships based on Bayes' theorem has been devised and the ability of DNA fingerprinting produced by Jeffrey's polycore probe to determine the relationships has been evaluated.