People Plan Vacations Around DNA Tests?
Just in at the New York Times: DNA Kits Aim to Link You to the Here and Then, which reports on the growing use of DNA tests to flesh out genealogy searches.
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“The past comes at a price for Georgia Kinney Bopp. Retired and living in Kailua, Hawaii, Ms. Bopp has spent about $800 on tests to trace her ancestry, using samples of DNA from inside her cheek and from possible relatives.
She and her husband, Thomas, even plan vacations around genealogy research, seeking DNA samples from distant cousins.
‘If we travel, we keep a DNA kit with us, just in case we meet someone who might help identify an ancient ancestor,’ Ms. Bopp said. ‘You just never know.’”
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The article covers the three types of tests available (mitochondrial, Y-chromosome, and autosomal DNA), and describes the limitations on interpreting the results of each:
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“What some people do not realize — especially those tracing geographic origins — is that if they go back just 10 generations, or some 300 years, they will have 1,024 ancestors in that 10th generation. Clearly, then, DNA tracing yields a quite narrow view of one’s heritage: The Y chromosome test tells you about only one male ancestor in that generation, and the mitochondrial test tells you about only one female ancestor, said Henry T. Greely, director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences at Stanford.
‘They’re not taking into account all the other ancestors,’ Mr. Greely said. ‘DNA can tell you a lot about your ancestry. As a consumer, you’ve got to pay a lot of attention to what it can’t tell you.’”
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Genography fans, by the way, will also be interested to know that MSNBC has an entire category devoted to genetic genealogy on its site.
