Elvis Presley and Touch DNA

I have been discouraged by my inability to find viable Elvis Presley DNA. To do DNA testing, the sample must have tissue, blood or saliva in sufficient amounts for a lab to extract a profile. We have found that no one has Elvis blood, etc. for sale. In fact, even if there was a good sample available to me, it would be almost 32 years old. Age degradation is an issue and the chance of getting a profile out of the sample is not high. Having basically given up on that search for samples and falling into a twilight zone of not knowing what to do next, I'm happy to have learned of a new DNA testing procedure called Touch DNA.

Touch DNA was recently used in JonBenet Ramsey's murder investigation to clear her parents. That's how I learned of it. In simple terms, Touch DNA testing requires only a small sample, in some cases only a few skin cells are enough to obtain a DNA profile. The skin cells can be collected from virtually anything touched, handled, worn or used in any way by a person. We all leave skin cells in our clothes, beds, shoes, combs, coffee cups and even in our fingerprints. Another advantage of this new test is that the age of the sample has little bearing on the viability of the DNA.

I have to say, this new procedure offers me renewed hope and encouragement. I know there are articles of clothing; scarves and many other items that Elvis used, touched or wore. We have started looking to find items that have a credible history and a verifiable chain of custody to use to try to establish whether or not Elvis Presley is my father.