The use of DNA tests to determine biological paternity by order of the Portuguese courts represents a complex phenomenon which exposes citizens to the authority of science, technology and justice.

This project involves a team of sociologists and geneticists who aim to understand how biotechnology, by enabling the “biological truth” of paternity to be ascertained, can also have an impact on the configuration of parental roles and identities and reproduce gender inequalities. The use of DNA tests to determine biological paternity by order of the Portuguese courts represents a complex phenomenon that exposes citizens to the authority of science, technology and justice.

The aim of this project is to understand how biotechnology, by enabling the “biological truth” of paternity to be ascertained, can also have impacts on the configuration of parental roles and identities and reproduce gender inequalities that undermine the rights of women and children who have no legally recognised father.