Some people may have received an unusual gift this holiday season: an ancestry testing kit that uses a small swab of DNA to shed light on near and ancient family history. It sounds, at first, like a novelty item. But the kit may provide long-term assistance to scientists who are hoping to track the history of the human race.
In one project, spearheaded by National Geographic Society and IBM, participants buy a kit for $99.95, scrape some skin cells from the inside of their cheek, and send the samples in for analysis. Once the DNA is processed, participants learn their haplogroup — the specific branch on the tree of early human migrations and genetic evolution that their maternal or paternal ancestors belong to. They’ll also get a map of the migration routes of those deep ancestors.
The National Geographic kit is just one part of a large-scale research effort, called the Genographic Project, to trace the migratory history of the human species. Scientists will study DNA markers in both indigenous populations across the world and in public participants who want to learn more about their own origins.
Nice to see prices coming down. Genealogy is not a big deal for me. Even with known antecedents stretching from the Outer Hebrides to Italy. A lot of seafaring folk in my genetic stew and it might be interesting to learn where they acquired their “seasoning”.
I don’t intend to spark a vicious debate here, but does anybody else see the privacy issues inherent in this? A private organization with DNA records on many people. That’d be mighty tempting for law enforcement to use and there is no legal privilege when you willingly give your DNA up to a private organization. And considering our government’s willingness to do things without court orders, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to compel DNA records from the Genographic Project.
Just tossing that out there. Not trying to sound too much like a conspiracy theorist. I think this is a really neat project.
Meh, my mom did this. She says they make sure to make it clear that your name is never connected with the DNA sample in the lab. So even if the govt did want to get access to National Geographic’s records, they wouldn’t have any usable data.
Wise to say, but hard to enforce…There is no way to ensure that the DNA data will only be used for civilian purposes. Where is the funding for this research coming from? Not to sound like a Mel Gibson character, but with the current ‘preisdent’ in office I wouldn’t volunteer anything more than his regeim is already taking, but that is another topic. Wolf in shheps clothing, I always say. The most draconian measures in history have been ushered in by way of innocent sounding ideas. Just my opinion. The historical perspective would be interesting…
Just a thought, but if the sample in the lab is never connected to you, how do they inform you of your ‘haplogroup’? How do they know where to send your map?