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The scene opens with a woman, Sharon (played by Salma Hyek) and her husband Danny (Russell Crowe) engaged in a violent argument. Danny storms out of the house, jumps in his car, and speeds off down the street. Soon he arrives in a suburban neighborhood and pulls up the driveway where he is greeted affectionately by a young woman, Brianna (Kirsten Dunst) and a small baby. Unbeknownst to Danny, however, Sharon has followed him and is now suspicious that her husband has been having an affair.

Sharon hires a private detective, Detective Andrew Montgomery (George Clooney) to continue spying on her husband. Sharon flies to New York to privately meet with Montgomery at a small café in the bustling heart of the city. She tells Montgomery that she has found a house that her husband was evidently sharing with another woman and a baby, and she would like to know how to find out if her husband is the father of the baby.

At the café, Montgomery pedantically explains that most human cells contain two sets of chromosomes that are composed of DNA (and other substances). It is the DNA that carries the genetic information from generation to generation. A cell division process called meiosis produces special cells called gametes that each carry one set of chromosomes (gametes are also known as sperm and egg cells, he says). When the sperm fertilizes the egg, the first cell of the child again has two sets of chromosomes.

The trick to conclusive DNA testing in this situation, Montgomery tells Sharon, is to get cells from the baby, the mother Brianna, and her husband Danny. To ensure an accurate test, Montgomery cooks up a deceptive scheme that is sure to yield cells from both the baby and the mother. Through a series of dramatic events, Montgomery finally gets a lollipop the baby sucked, some hair (with follicles) from the lover, and a cigarette butt from Sharon's husband.

Montgomery has friends at a DNA testing laboratory that agree to do the analysis for a "small fee" ($10,000). They extract DNA from cells harvested from the candy, hair, and cigarette butt, then use restriction enzymes to cut the DNA at certain sequences. The lab then compares the baby's pattern of DNA fragments with those of Brianna and Danny. Because babies inherit half their DNA from each parent, half the DNA fragments should match the Brianna. The other half should match Danny if he is the father. If the fragments do not match his, he is not the father.

When the lab has finished its work, Montgomery again meets with Sharon at the café where they first met. He lays out the three DNA fingerprints, and it is immediately obvious that Danny is indeed the baby's father. At first she is distraught, but after lingering over a cappuccino Sharon realizes that her marriage was essentially over anyway, and that her unfaithful husband and his lover deserve each other. Montgomery agrees and as the movie closes, they look at one another and silently realize the potential for romance between them.

[512 words]

Belk, C. and V. Borden. 2007. Biology: Science for Life, Second Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Author unknown. Date unknown. Paternity "Ask the Experts." http://www.divorcenet.com/paternity/patboard2.html. Downloaded May 18, 2008.

Inspiration for my episode came from a former DivorceNet.com site, Paternity "Ask the Experts" Bulletin Board (http://www.divorcenet.com/paternity/patboard2.html; site is no longer active). Specifically, I am basing my episode on the following question-and-answer exchange (errors are part of the original post, not mine):

Question: I just recently found out that my husband has been having an affair for some time now. I discovered their "love nest" . He has denied the whole thing, He tells me she is buying this house w/ her boyfriend, but I have facts that prove this to be incorrect. She moved stuff out but later moved it back in to appear being used. Now I am pretty sure this women has a baby that may be about 7 to 8 months. There are items in the house used by the baby. I have talked w/ a lawyer but says this would take a long time. I collected some items such as a baby cup and dropper from some medicine the child has taken. I have my husbands tooth brush and hair from a brush. Is there any way to do a private DNA from these items. I don't plan on doing anything legally, but am desparate to know this information. Can a DNA be done legally from these items and where? Thanks for your information. anonymous <withheld>

Answer: Actually it is possbile but expensive--look to spend around a thousand dollars or better. You can contact us here at Fairfax if you want to proceed but let me caution you that there is the possibility that dna will not be able to be extracted from those objects so think long and hard before submitting those samples.

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[Original sample assignment by Mariëlle Hoefnagels; modified by Heather Galbraith]

Contemporary Issues in Biology -- BIOL 1003 Mariëlle H. Hoefnagels, Ph.D. © 2004-2015. biology1003 at OU dot edu (at = @, dot =.) Last Updated August 5, 2014 11:02 PM