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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2008-04 > 1208411759


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Subject: [DNA] Book: DNA, Promise and Peril
Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:55:59 EDT


I just picked up the book, DNA, Promise and Peril, written by the McCabes,
a husband and wife physician team and professors at UCLA. There was a
panel of experts who spoke about it and they had a book signing today
at UCLA.

As I am sitting here thumbing through the book, I get the impression that it
is well written. It touches on forensics, ethics, race, gender, patents,
cloning,
reproductive medicine, gene testing, engineering and health insurance
policies.
However, I think they completely missed the impact that genetic genealogy
is having right now and will have in the future as more of us order tests
on ourselves. Dr. Edward McCabe is a co-director for the UCLA Center for
Society and Genetics so if anyone should know about the social impact
that amateur DNA research is having, he should know. But I think they missed
the boat on this one. The authors stressed that recreational DNA research
represents "an extremely small part of the genome" but I don't think they
realize how many tests are actually being ordered on extended family members.
These academicians never seem to get it when it comes to understanding
pedigree
collapse, extended family and surname research projects and how the Internet
and globalization will be revolutionizing genealogy through DNA search
engines
and pedigrees as more and more people are tested. Think of all the retired
people who are spending their money on this hobby and helping labs to build
branches on the phylogenetic trees that previously only universities could
do.
In addition, I should think a major university with a huge public policy
department like UCLA would be looking at the social and medical impact
of genetic genealogy. Well, it may be good thing that we are not on their
radar screen right now. We can grow undisturbed.

This is what the McCabes think about genealogy DNA testing:
"These laboratory analyses are expensive. Studies indicate that an
individual's
knowledge of his or her ancestry is relatively accurate. In medical
genetics,
we know that one of the least expensive and most powerful genetic tools
available
to us is a good family history. The decision to carry out DNA testing for
ancestry
will be up to the individual. A far less expensive and excellent alternative
available to many of us is to learn about our ancestry from the elders in our
families. In addition, relatives' stories will have far more cultural
meaning than
biological measures of ancestry."

I was just surprised that they have not seen the explosion of DNA studies
being
performed by us so-called amateurs. Genealogy will eventually make its way
into the academic circles as the researchers figure out they need better
pedigrees to help them figure out the more complicated mechanisms of
inheritance especially when they look more at epigenetics.
Kathy J.



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