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When the famous astronomer and scientist Galileo was alive, he became very well known for causing a stir among the authorities of the Catholic Church who had for centuries taught that the Earth was the center of the universe. Throughout his life, Galileo insisted on his theory that the Sun was in fact the center of the universe, and that the Earth revolved around it, not vice versa as previously thought. After his death, when his theory was proved to be true, Galileo was revered as one of the greatest Italian scientists of all time. Once declared a heretic of the Catholic Church, Galileo now rests in a tomb in the famous Basilica of the Holy Cross in Florence, Italy.

Now, Italian researchers are petitioning the Church for permission to exhume his body to perform advanced DNA testing that could shed light on the type or cause of blindness that affected Galileo. These researchers, led by Prof. Paulo Galluzzi, also want to confirm if the woman whose body shares Galileo’s tomb is indeed his daughter, Sister Marie Celeste. The rector of this basilica has so far rejected Galluzi and his team’s request, deeming it disrespectful of the dead and being disrespectful of the basilica itself.

It seems that, even 360 years after his death, Galileo is once again at the center of a debate between science and the Catholic Church.

Last week, an article on cnn.com told the story of New York mom Allison Penn and her newborn sons, Logan, Eli and Collin. The boy’s births were already notable because they are triplets— a rare event that only happens in about 1 in every 8,000 births.

Logan, Eli and Collin are not just any triplets, however. They are identical triplets, which means that the three babies grew out of only one fertilized egg. In multiple identical births, one fertilized egg (called an embryo) splits during development, resulting in identical babies, most often, twins. (In contrast, fraternal twins result from two separate eggs being fertilized.)

In the case of the Penn triplets, one of the resulting embryos split again, resulting in three embryos and, ultimately, three babies. This “double splitting” of a fertilized egg, resulting in identical triplets, is extremely rare and occurs only once in every 500,000 births, although some data suggests the chances of identical triplets can even be one in 200 million. Like identical twins, identical triplets have exactly the same DNA because they came from the same fertilized egg.

A DNA test called a Zygosity Test is often used to tell if twins or triplets are identical or fraternal. Through a simple cheek swab after the babies are born, scientists can determine whether or not the babies’ DNA matches—which means the babies are identical—or does not, which means they are fraternal. Twins are either identical or fraternal, while triplets can consist of one set of identical twins and a third fraternal baby, three fraternal babies, or three identical babies, like Logan, Eli and Collin Penn.

What makes Logan, Eli and Collin’s births even more special is that they are a result of in-vitro fertilization (IVF), a fertility treatment that involves harvesting an egg from the mother and fertilizing it with the father’s sperm outside the womb, and then implanting it in the mother’s uterus hoping that the embryo will grow and ultimately result in pregnancy.

The rate of multiple births rises if a couple uses IVF because often multiple embryos are implanted in the mother to increase the chance of achieving a successful pregnancy. However, in Allison Penn’s case, she had only one embryo implanted, making her chance of having identical triplets extremely low.

In fact, doctors believe the Penn babies are the first identical triplets to be born through an IVF procedure that involved implanting only a single embryo. All three babies are healthy, although one boy has a non-functioning kidney but doctors don’t think he will require medical treatment.

Recently, paternity test kits have been promoted regionally through a pharmacy chain, which means in some states these kits are now available on pharmacy store shelves. According to the companies who are promoting these over-the-counter kits, the concept is to make the test more accessible—but convenience does come with a price. A consumer must first pay for the kit (which is available for free on many companies’ websites), and pay more for the testing later. We advise people to carefully consider their testing options in deciding whether these over-the-counter paternity tests are right for their situation.

First, it is important to remember that only a DNA paternity test that follows strict chain of custody procedures is recognized as valid in a court of law. This means that if the test is needed for legal purposes – like child support enforcement, inheritance issues, adoption procedures and others – a chain of custody or “legal” test is the best way to ensure that the test will be admitted in court. These pharmacy-store kits—like other at-home kits that can be purchased on the internet— can answer paternity questions for curiosity reasons or for peace-of-mind, but will not be recognized by a judge if the results were ever needed for legal reasons.

Second, each paternity situation is unique, and your specific circumstances should be carefully considered before choosing a test. Many at-home testing companies offer limited customer service whose personnel are trained primarily to help clients with one of the more common types of paternity tests, the trio test. In this test, three parties’ cheek swabs are taken and mailed to the lab—the mother, alleged father and child. However, if a paternity situation is more complicated than the trio case—if the alleged fathers are related or if the alleged father is deceased—extended analysis of the DNA samples will be necessary, which requires expert laboratory and client service personnel to walk you through the specifics of your unique case.

Finally, while purchasing a paternity test at a pharmacy may be convenient, many of Beta Paternity’s clients say they prefer the privacy, confidentiality and discretion that ordering a paternity testing kit online provides—compared to standing in line at a drug store where your paternity kit is “rung up” in plain sight. Our clients can talk confidentially to a caring case manager without leaving the comfort and privacy of home, and Beta Paternity offers its clients stellar customer service throughout the entire testing process.

For more information, click here to read more about Beta Paternity’s services.