New blood test can determine paternity before birth

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 21:39:31 +0000

Pregnant women in Michigan can now use a simple blood test to identify the father of their unborn child.

Three labs across the state now offer the noninvasive prenatal paternity test. The Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Lansing sites are part of the ArcPoint Franchise Group.

With only a blood sample from the mother and a cheek swab from the potential father, paternity can be determined as early as five weeks after conception.

At that time, the pregnant woman's blood starts carrying fragments of the fetus' DNA.

The labs send the mother's blood samples and potential father's cheek swab to a different lab in Columbia, Md., where technicians compare genetic markers to determine paternity.

Michigan Supreme Court rejects claim jury was not impartial in Kent County rape case

Steve Carmody — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 21:26:16 +0000

The Michigan Supreme Court has reinstated the conviction of a Kent County man who claimed he was denied a fair trial because of the racial makeup of his jury.