The invention relates to a packer for formation testing and a method for performing formation testing by adopting the packer. The packer comprises an upper joint, wherein a conical female thread is formed in the upper end of the upper joint, a core pipe extending downwards is screwed in an internal thread in the lower end of the upper joint, and the lower end of the core pipe is inserted into an upper port of a lower joint and is sealed through an O-shaped ring; a conical male thread is formed in the lower end of the lower joint; and a bypass mechanism capable of communicating upper liquid flow and lower liquid flow of the packer is arranged on the periphery of the core pipe and below the upper joint, a setting mechanism is arranged below the bypass mechanism, a shear pin mechanism is arranged below the setting mechanism, and a transposition mechanism for controlling bypass and setting is arranged below the shear pin mechanism. During well descending, the bypass is opened to communicate upper and lower annuluses, after in place, the core pipe is rotated, the bypass is closed, setting is performed, stratum fluid enters a string, then the bypass is opened, unsetting is performed, andthe string is lifted. In the drilling process, it is ensured that the straddle packer cannot be set in advance, so that packer rubber sleeves are effectively protected, and the straddle test successrate is practically increased.