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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2001-11 > 1004891403
From:
Subject: Re: [DNA] What's at stake?
Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 11:30:03 EST
In a message dated 11/3/01 9:49:24 PM Pacific Standard Time,
writes:
> I cannot think of what value the DNA results could be to anyone other than
> genealogists. I would compare it to someone having a copy of your finger
> prints
> or knowing your blood type. I think we can feel quite safe about sharing our
>
Not bad analogies, but I would go even further. Fingerprints can identify a
unique person, but many people will share identical results on the Y
chromosome and mtDNA tests used by genealogists. Thus your haplotype would
not be very strong forensic evidence against you in a court case (although it
might be sufficient to clear you if your haplotype is very different).
Then too, blood types are a physical trait, expressions of a specific gene.
The markers used for Y and mtDNA tests are in the non-coding regions of DNA,
sometimes called "junk" DNA. They don't reveal anything at all about a
person's outward traits.
I certainly feel comfortable sharing the results of my mtDNA test, and I
imagine many people on this mailing list feel the same way. But we are a
self-selected group. I monitor other mailing lists at RootsWeb for mentions
of the word DNA, and there are lots of people who shudder at the mere thought
of sending samples to a lab for DNA testing. They are worried about insurance
and employability, among other things, so perhaps they suspect their entire
genome is being analyzed for disease susceptibility. That would be an
enormously expensive proposition, even if it were possible. And if anyone
wanted your DNA that badly, there are many ways to collect it, with or
without your knowledge. You are shedding samples of your DNA all the time.
The fact that you had a Y chromosome or mtDNA analysis performed is just not
meaningful in this context.
Then there are people who think that using DNA tests is not "real" genealogy.
I think the best antidote for these fears and attitudes is a lot of
education, coupled with some tantalizing success stories of how DNA results
have cleared up some mysteries which traditional genealogical research
techniques could not solve.
Ann Turner
GENEALOGY-DNA List Administrator
http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Miscellaneous/GENEALOGY-DNA.html
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