GENEALOGY-DNA-L Archives

Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2004-07 > 1090361798


From: Max Blankfeld <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] Dodson Group Issue
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 17:16:38 -0500
References: <072020041435.1383.40FD2DC000054F9F0000056722007589429C0A9B9C0A9D@comcast.net>
In-Reply-To: <072020041435.1383.40FD2DC000054F9F0000056722007589429C0A9B9C0A9D@comcast.net>


At 09:35 AM 7/20/2004, you wrote:
>List,
>I am posting a lengthy exchange that occurred on the Dodson list about the DNA project. Basicly their project is relatively new. Mary, asked a question. Mic an administrator from another "older" group posted the typical security discussion in response to an inquiry. Then Bud Dodson, a professional in the field posted a reply that basicly negates everything we say.
>I am posting this in hopes that it will generate discussion. I am concerned about the things that Bud mentions, and if he is fundamentally corrent, then we have been misinforming people. I hope that Bennett or someone from FTDNA will reply as well, as this kind of information certainly does nothing to promote DNA testing for genealogical purposes.
>Roberta Estes

Dear Roberta and List,

Mic Barnette is correct in what he said.

Bud Dodson addresses two issues: a) he questions if DNA testing can provide us the answers we are looking for, and b) he asserts that the DNA can be misused.

To the first question: there are many papers written by scientists not less qualified than Bud Dodson that show what the Y-DNA and the mtDNA can do in regard to population genetics. In addition to that, by now, we have hundreds, if not thousands of empirical situations that can also prove what the Y-DNA can do for genealogical purposes. Therefore, on one hand we have facts, while on the other hand we have Bud Dodson's "I don't think it will give you what you want" - not quite a scientific assertion and certainly not a statement that has a fundament at all. Molecular Biology is a wide science with several branches of specialization. When I studied Aeronautical Engineering, my focus was in rocket propellants. Even though I also dealt with Thermodynamics and other subjects, I wouldn't feel that I could categorically defend an assumption in a field that I did not specialize. Therefore, with all due respect to Bud's point of view, we still want to line up with the work of Drs. Mi!
chael Hammer, Bruce Walsh, Underhill, Cavalli-Sforza, to name just a few. Since we have several Dodsons that have tested with us, perhaps it would be worth for Bud to have his Y-DNA tested against someone he knows he is related to, and then compare all results and see if he would change his mind based on his own results. In short, Roberta, those tests are based on good and proven science and nobody is being misinformed. Misinforming is telling people "don't do it because "I don't think" it will give you what you want".

To the second question: indeed DNA can be misused. Like anything else in life. Did I ever make an investment in a company that was managed by crooks and I lost my money? I sure did. Did I ever employ someone that misused the company resources? I sure did. OK, those are all material and replaceable issues. But what about...did a doctor ever gave a patient a wrong diagnostic? Did anyone ever died from a medical malpractice? There are many cases. I can go on and on with this list...
The bottom line is that we, at Family Tree DNA, (as I am also sure is the case with other companies), take every precaution to protect our customer's privacy. Specifically in our case, the lab can do nothing with the DNA they store, not even research, because those are not associated to a specific person, and therefore, there are no personal parameters to be associated with.

I would like to close my comments with a general statement. Our philosophy in business, shared by Bennett and myself, is very well reflected in the following Ted Roosevelt's quotation, while maintaining the highest levels of ethics (which we are sure was an implicit part of his statement) :
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

E-mail me any time!

Max Blankfeld
Vice-President, Operations and Marketing
http://www.FamilyTreeDNA.com
"History Unearthed Daily"

713-868-1438

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