If we (in the US) had Medicare for all, that would/should significantly reduce the concern for protecting access to our DNA ... I'd offer mine to help solve a crime 🤗💗
One thing that is of concern is the fact that DNA is a lot more complicated than TV makes it out to be. Take Chimerism, for example. It's where a person absorbs a twin in the womb and ends up having different parts of their body with each's DNA. A woman whose ovaries belonged to the twin would produce children who were biologically her nieces and nephews. I am sure there have been plenty of paternity cases where men had this condition and were deemed not the father, which makes cases of SA even trickier. This is just one complication, I'm sure there are many others.
My Mom did 23 and me because she didn’t know who her father was and her mom (my grandmother) was adopted. So we truly had no idea what her genetics was. Come to find out that my grandfather lived in the same county as us and he had no idea my mom existed. We got to know him a year after meeting him as he passed away with cancer a year later. So it was worth it to us.
I'm pretty sure this story is one of the poster-stories for why genetic testing is a success. Unlocking the mystery of your genes, your genetic makeup, is so fascinating and necessary to some people. I have no problem with society putting away murderers as a side benefit as long as genetic testing stays out of the hands of for-profit endeavors that would use it for discrimination money making purposes.
My mom’s mom was adopted. At least one each of my parents’ sisters have done dna tests, so we have some vague clues about my grandma’s background (and my dad’s side), but I haven’t done one myself. Still debating doing one for myself, but I do think it might be neat to see if I could find more distant cousins or some other blood relation of my grandma.
Not sure you will feel it's worth it later if your child makes a stupid youthful mistake and grandma's DNA is used against them to charge them with breaking into a house they thought was empty or whatever. Or even if they come gangbusters to question your kid because cousin Bob, you don't even know would carry the same % of grandma's DNA, and they did some stupid shit. I'm not opposed to people be held accountable for their behavior but I have reservations about being able to use other people's DNA without warrants to search for potential suspects...
Something I'd like to add is that DNA testing can be flawed: we had a case here in Germany where police searched for years for a serial killer. In the end it turned out that the swabs they used for testing were contaminated. The DNA belonged to an employee of the company producing the swabs. This made me realize that DNA testing is not the miracle solution police reporting and TV shows make it out to be.
But on the flip side isn't this how they caught the BSK? in California. Sorry we had a few active all at the same time when I was a kid and I get them mixed up. His daughter did a test
@@JenSell1626 not arguing but like all things there's a good/bad side. Look at AI, it's cool but it's still racist AF. And yes Data bases are a bitch but they can also be helpful tools. Ask any Librarian
I work in data science and am well versed in data privacy laws. I would only get genetic testing done in a medical situation. Once data is out in the world, it can’t be pulled back and the laws probably won’t help you.
But so many people nowadays do it- even if you didn’t, likely a few first degree relations have and your DNA can be inferred, especially against a possible match. Or for insurance health risks. Or whatever.
Exactly this, and so you can't just consider the current state of laws, but also all future possible laws. As a person residing in the US, I have to consider whether that DNA could be used to prosecute and punish someone for getting an abortion. That's an extremely real possible outcome given the *current* uses of this method, and one I certainly would not agree with. Or look at world history and consider that it could also be used by a fascist government to track down non-practicing Jewish persons who are related to Jewish persons and send them to concentration camps. The possibilities for abuse are horrific, and the upside is simply 'what if some distant relative committed a crime we can't solve?!' Well, then maybe they could spend more than 0.01% of the police budget on solving those crimes, instead of on brutalizing minorities and peaceful protesters!
The wild thing for me is the consent aspect. If you have several close relatives use those tests and choose to share that information, you could, in principle, effectively lose your consent to disclose medical or other information. Building a family tree and understanding genetic risks would take that away… and of course privacy issues around old adoptions, etc. Not just legal consequences. And, it is unregulated in pet products, so not all dog and cat health tests are the same!
This is a really interesting and important take. I did 23 And Me about 6 years ago, and I was excited to share everything I learned with my parents and grandma (my grandma is the one who got me the test as a gift). I learned that I had a higher risk of age-related ocular degeneration. It doesn't mean I'll ever have it, it's just something I have a higher risk of than some other people... But when I told my mom that, she was really upset with me. Her grandmother had it and had gone blind, and letting my mom know that I had a slightly elevated risk meant that she did, too, and she wouldn't have wanted to know that. It's not as bad as if I were to have the gene for Huntington's or something similar that would mean she would definitely develop the disease, but in that moment I accidentally stripped her of her ability to consent to that sort of information. It was an accident, like I had no idea that her grandmother had it and would therefore reveal which parent gave me an elevated risk, but I also couldn't have known I was keeping her from being able to consent to that risk factor when I said it. As the technology changes and advances, we will only be able to detect more of these things. I want to help find violent offenders, but you're absolutely right. To some extent, putting my genome into a public database like that would strip everyone I'm related to of the ability to consent.
I think this is connected to another thing that is happening on a broader level! There's this person on TikTok who finds people's birthdays on social media with their consent. Lots of them are confident that it cannot be found, but if the person does end up finding it, it's almost always because friends and family have a lower standard of privacy for their personal info. So in a way, we are not in control of our own data because having any social connections makes us and our information more visible
I don't know where things are at in the US but I know in Canada we've had legislation that prevents insurance companies from using genetic DNA information to determine your risk of illness and increase costs or refuse coverage to certain people. However, Canada obviously has universal healthcare and, while there are enough things that aren't covered that health insurance is still largely a necessity, insurance companies don't have quite the same amount of power and leverage they do in the states.
@@oldbluewitch3386 For them to do that, they need to already suspect you. They don’t go around picking up random people’s trash to test just in case. This is a fundamentally different issue, especially since they’d be using other people’s information who are unconnected to the crime except for being related, often distantly, to the perpetrator.
This is my main concern. If my relative is caught up on murder charges because my dna led the cops to them well don’t do murder next time. But if my relative was denied coverage because my dna said we were predisposed to something, especially if they eventually did get that thing, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
I think that’s going to be the huge legal battle out of DNA technology. I wouldn’t put it past Capitalist corporations to do anything evil to make a buck. It’s effectively eugenics if it gets there at all. Who decides what are “good” and “bad” traits?
@@mermaidcatching I wholeheartedly agree with you! But I laughed really hard at "well don't do murder next time" 😆 just like: "Welp! 🤷♂️ I dunno what to tell you, you done f***ed up"
Same, Leeja - I'm so torn on this.... If it were just used for major crimes (rape, murder) and it could help solve cold cases & exonerate innocent people I'd be all for the public databases. BUT, as we've seen time and time again, the police/ government will always find ways to keep pushing that boundary & I can easily see this being used in the (near) future for more nefarious purposes. I'm glad to hear that the private companies aren't openly sharing with government agencies - I did not know that! I also appreciate that states are starting to create laws to minimize/ restrict how it's used.
Exactly. It would be great and I don’t think the concept should be fully abandoned, but like you said, the state can never be trusted no matter where you are with having people’s DNA readily available through a database. On one hand you will probably not have to worry about it being used against you for multiple factors, but there’s too many risks for those that do have to worry about it. It’s a tricky case as well since it could help apprehend innocent people thrown in jail.
I would watch Veritasium's video on the topic before making my decision. It is easy to say "limit to murder and rape", but them your grandma is beaten ALMOST to death, and the tool cannot be used, because she didn't die and you kind of wish the definition was a bit broader...
@@kikiTHEalien, most crimes aren't that hard to solve. Grandma's been assaulted and robbed? OK, which of the kids has a money problem and/or a history of violence against women? The use case for forensic genealogy is incredibly marginal, it's only going to come up in the rare cases where the perpetrator wasn't known to the victim.
@@jacobvardy As I said, just watch the Veritasium video. It is much better informed and the data is structured, it is not just someone's opinion on a topic they incidentally came about.
If my parents upload their DNA to be used by these third-party sites, they inadvertently given my DNA--at least enough markers that are essentially me to these sites without my consent. I think that's a real ethical dilemma. Even if I never consented, I am practically on the database. With enough generations placed on these sites, there'd almost be no more need to gather consent forms anymore because a good enough sleuth could ascertain genealogy connections without a newer profile added.🤔 5 people consent and they've practically given another's consent they don't own to give via genetic relation.
To summarize You consent doesn't mean the rest of your relatives do. I think that's a strong reason, at least to me, of why not to upload your DNA to any site.
I did 23 & Me many years ago and ignorantly skimmed the terms of service. Little did I know how powerful that decision was. Technically me agreeing to a terms of service is not only on my behalf but apparently all my close relatives. Kind of insane when really thinking about it.
There’s a dark side: I was shocked to find 2 half-siblings. One thought the guy that raised her was her real dad. Oops. She doesn’t talk to her parents anymore because she felt lied to. Sad.
That is really tragic,I hope there was more to her decision to stop speaking to her parents Then simply the fact they didn't tell her that her father was not her biological father. I'm not saying that it is right to lie to your children but if she was lovingly treated like a daughter by him and had no reason to suspect that she Wasn't his flesh and blood so to speak-- Then that means he was being a good father. The fact that they waited too long to tell her or thought telling her when she was older might break The bond between them or cause her to feel lied to which may be why they didn't- is such a shame. If she was raised by someone who loved her like she was his own and she rejected him because of a mistake... parents are human beings too. For all we know it might have been the mother who didn't Want her to Know? And for the non bio father who loved her to be rejected is just such a shame. I wish people were able to value the love they received and not care if the person was biologically tied to them. Of course I can never truly understand how it feels to not be genetically connected to my own mother.(single parent kid here) But as a stepmother I'd like to think That my love matters. And i've actually been thinking of becoming a foster mom. But I admit it does hurt to think that my love for a child might never compensate for a biological parent that couldn't or wouldn't fulfil their parental duties. But I guess that's why being a parent is about *unconditional love, you can't place conditions on it. Maybe one day your half sibling, she'll be able to forgive them. I hope she can for her own sake because it is a hard world out here without family to rely on- I know how difficult that is and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, Which is part of the reason I want to give someone else a family too.
Holy smoke! I just remembered! My mother found out she had a 1/2 sibling! Turns out this woman found out on her mother's death bed that the man that she thought was her father wasn't really her father so she started searching every site she could to find out who her father was! My mother's brother had Uploaded some of their information to an ancestry type Website. But what the family found out Is that this half sibling was created while my grandfather was having an affair as my grandmother was dying of cancer. So my mom was NOT super psyched about it. However eventually my mother made friends with her but she was definitely not happy about it at first.😳
Last time I checked it was something like 20-25% of daddies aren't the daddy. That may be including data from before no-fault divorce but was a painstaking report with lots of variables factored in that began within the CDC. I've been around long enough now to not be surprised at all. The most virtuous goody-goody seeming people sometimes get hungry for something not on the regular menu. And they more they criticize such behavior often means they've done it or are thinking of it. _She doesn’t talk to her parents anymore because she felt lied to_ LMAO! parents and children lie to each other constantly and she is no exception. I've always taught that it's more important to look at what we choose to believe and how often we deny the truth.
It is also worth noting that DNA testing labs are not well regulated. There has been a pretty big recent controversy where the state forsenics lab in Queensland, Australia turned out to have been screwing up DNA tests for the last several years without anyone noticing.
Took an ethics class all about this stuff years ago, was very against it for privacy concerns (insurance, etc), but then it helped my genetic brother find us! My mom donated eggs years ago when trying to have me, and the clinic in charge shut down ages ago. We always wondered if there was another kid running around, and lo and behold there was! 2 months younger than me. He found us through one of my cousins on ancestry! It's s been so cool!
Another huge issue is the fact that the Direct to consumer genetic tests like 23&me and ancestry can sell and use your genetic information. They can sell to pharma companies, or insurance companies, or whomever and essentially use your data for research. It is much less regulated than CLIA certified labs providing provider ordered genetic testing.
My brother and father did Ancestry and 23andme. We found out my grandfather had a whole second family before he met my grandmother! Now we have a lot more people on our family tree! My father wasn't shocked by this news at all. He said he was glad we found this information after my grandfather and my grandmother had passed. That would have been some awkward conversation! He did remember some odd encounters with various 'aunts' and 'uncles' he remembered as a boy. Now, he's got NAMES!
I, too, have been battling a mystery chronic illness, so I am sharing what I learned by taking a 23andme test. I took the 23andme test in 2018, and everything looked like I expected. I have all of my Dad's problematic health issues and that's it (T2D, WPW, PFO, MVP, AMDR-wet) My Mom's health is really very good. I recognized our family lineage to be in alignment with everything that I had expected and the map was highlighted in a way that I expected. In 2019, I received an email update from 23andme that changed that (cuz, yeah, that's how science works) and reclassified my Russian ancestry as ::drumroll:: Ashkenazi. My Great Grandmother immigrated here from Russia as a child-refugee, but neither of her parents survived the journey to the US. She was 'adopted' (sold) here to a ::drumroll:: Roman Catholic family. Having Ashkenazi ancestry has opened up the pool of possible diagnosis for me that hadn't been considered previously, because I look devastatingly yt. I actually might beat you on that whiteness palette, Leeja. I caught that you shared that you don't know your Dad. If I didn't know my Dad, I would take the 23andme test immediately. My doctors have always been, BuT iT's OnLy YoUr MoThEr'S hEaLtH tHaT mAtTeRs. This is absolutely not true, because genetics typically require 2 matching copies of problematic DNA to be troublesome. So, while my Dad's health is horrible and my Mom's health is flawless, *I* have the Ashkenazi genetics that have synced up with my Dad's 'bad' ones, because of my *mother*. I know what to watch out for and I have been taking steps since 2019 to prevent the obvious problems heading towards me, such as T2D and heart disease I have also found benefits from running my raw data through sites like Nutrahacker, Prometheus and whatnot. Has it diagnosed me? Nope. But it's been a worthwhile tool to consult with while trying to figure out my mystery illness. I personally don't do crimes. I am also not going to procreate, nor is my brother. My parents don't do crimes. If someone in my extended family has done some, well, I hope they're put through justice. Long story short, I am not going to slow down information coming in on a very real and active (years) mystery illness that is currently impacting my health and quality of life on a 'what-if'. I'm a survivor and my survival instincts told me that this was a risk worth taking, and should a problem arise, I will deal with that as it comes.
I got AncestryDNA with my mom on a Mother’s Day special (two for the price of one) and I thought it was pretty cool! We’re Mexican-American so we didn’t know our ethnic mix, since being Latino is a big melting pot. It was super interesting and we compared how much DNA I got from her vs my dad, saw how much indigenous vs white we had, etc. My aunt is trying to use it to find her dad, and since her half sister (my mom) used it we can compare matches that they share vs those they don’t. All in all it depends on what you want out of it. I was pretty satisfied! Edit: Also I uploaded my DNA to GEDMatch last year. I was hesitant and torn but I do want to do a small part to help solve violent crimes
I've done 23andme and have been in contact with two half cousins on my Dads side, so it was very neat. That being said if you don't know one side of the family be prepared to find out why that side is so fractured. Not everyone is as excited to find out who/how they came to be so you may get a few cold shoulders. Really enjoy your videos!
I refrain from taking those genetic tests because I'm more concerned with what insurance companies can do with the information. Like deny you coverage based on your lineage being suspectable to certain diseases or problems. I don't commit crimes so I'm not worried about that. If a family member is found because of my DNA that's on them.
I consider myself fortunate that I don't really have a reason to do one of those tests. The idea of putting that kind of data out there doesn't seem safe in the long run. I've been following a scary DNA-related story that you might be interested to look into, that of large"clusters" of half-siblings that are the result of unscrupulous men in the fertility industry, basically substituting their own, uh, donations, from those of would-be fathers and donors. The possibility of donor-conceived people unknowingly dating their half-siblings is just appalling, plus folks not knowing what medical issues might be lurking in their genes. There's a TikToker named Laura High who has a lot of content about this issue. I'd love to see a legal analysis of it.
I haven’t done the dna tests, but my parents did and they found my half brother that was given up for adoption by his birth mom! I found out he existed on a Wednesday, and by Friday we were having dinner with him and his wife.
I did one of these, my aunt was really pushing it because we didn’t know who my dad was. She did a lot of contacting 3rd cousins and was able to find him so that’s amazing. But I have thought about what if I’m linked to a crime!! Also interesting for my twin brother who didn’t want to do the dna test cause well they basically have his dna now😬 I don’t think I’ll have to worry about the crime but I wish I had read more of the fine print.
Not his full DNA, unless you were born amab identical twins. By your name, you're most likely fraternal. So his full DNA isn't on the database, but the link to him would be
After the golden state killer was caught I sent my dogs DNA in because I was sure he was a killer... turns out he's just a hound sitter mix with a tendency to try to push me down the stairs 🤷♀️
I’m fascinated with genealogy and family trees. So I had an Ancestry account before they offered DNA testing. It was worth it to my family because it helped us fill in some holes. We all had privacy concerns then, and I picked Ancestry over 23 and me at the time for the privacy policies at the time. I periodically get messages through the ancestry match app, urging me to put our profiles out on more public databases and the thought just skeeves me out. I get that it’s a great tool and more reliable than eyewitness and more scientific. That’s all great but still massively invasive and opens the door to so much more. It’s also skewed to public databases which put a weird classism into the mix. My family that chose to do this are “protected” because we could afford a more expensive option than someone else who maybe had the same kind of questions. They could have only afforded the cheaper or free companies and now the government gets their DNA but not mine because capitalism. It just seems like such a huge issue for us to be heading into without discussion or legal precedent and it feels like “serial killer” was a cheat to get us all okay with it without having to talk about it.
23 and private investigators and cops have been getting stuff out of trash for as long as I can remember. The idea is that it's not yours anymore, you threw it out and it would go to the garbage.
I am adopted and did 23 and me. I took awhile to decide as well but I am glad I did it. Not sure about the public sites since I have kids. However if they choose murder and are so sloppy they leave their DNA thats on them😂
So if, perchance, someone innocent gets picked up because of a mistake for a serious crime due to incomplete evidence, the wrong DNA or other errors, its okay and totally on them even if it was a relative that gave the comparison sample to one of these companies.
Got mine free because they wanted a bigger black sampling. Glad I got it. It connected me to lost relatives. The test told me nothing new. I did opt in because I don't want those criminals out with me
I have used one of the DNA sites and I found a new relative who didn't know her dad, but was a match as a cousin. So I helped her get in touch with him... total Greys Anatomy moment lol
didnt even think about how its the 4th amendment. love the connection and info you bring to it, and it is also entertining. great video and cant wait for the one on internet sleuths.
On the subject of DNA but not human DNA, there is testing for pets. Some pure breeds require the testing done for a certificate to be given. Others, when adopting a mutt, get it done to find out what breeds their dog is a mix of. The reason I am talking about dogs is because if on that test one of the banned dog breeds of the area a person lives shows on the test the family could be forced to surrender the dog, have to relocate, pay increased home insurance or loose the insurance. So that testing has risks, too.
I found my birth family through 23 & Me. As someone who was adopted and knew nothing about myself, it was very helpful. I was able to get pics of myself as a baby and toddler that I had never seen before. I also finally saw what my birth mom looked like because I couldn't remember and had no pictures. I have a very minimal relationship with my birth family because I decided that was best for me. I've never paid a membership fee, though 🤨
Use by law enforcement aside I hate that dna databases do not and cannot get consent from all parties before material relevant to them is published. Eg a friend of mine fell pregnant to her abuser when she was 14. She had the child and then gave him up for adoption. 22 years later her brother chose to do a dna test. Through this my friend’s child was able to find her. She did not want to know him, him making contact bought up a whole heap of trauma that she was not prepared to deal with. She was put in a really difficult position where she had to tell her son that she did not want to ever meet or speak with him and all because her brother gave up genetic material without her consent.
My biological cousin is incarcerated and his DNA was taken for Codis so I figured what did it matter now so I did a 23 and Me test. I was not going to donut but literally part of my dna is in Codis 😂
I live in Moscow and work at the University of Idaho. Lemme just say, that was a WILD time to be living here. The security was insane, many of my college aged co-workers starting packing around firearms. News crews were set up in front of the campus entrance every time there was an update in the case. The speculation was crazy.
back in 2018 I did the ancestry one around the holidays when it was half off. And when the implemented the membership fee. I definitely have not done that.
Barbara Rae-Venter states that : persons of northern and western europe, being concerned about privacy, I think that that horse already left the barn a long time ago.
This is a really interesting and nuanced question, because it comes down to more than just the ability to identify violent offenders. I am all for that. When you sign up for 23 And Me, though, they have an entire section in their terms of service about privacy related to your health information... that they have no intention of sharing with insurance companies, but it is possible that in the event of hacking or whatever they could get the information and while it's not legal now, in the future it could potentially influence your ability to get health insurance. I was immediately going to sign up for a database like the ones you mentioned specifically to help fight crime before remembering that. I did the test about 6yrs ago, though, so there could be different legislation in place to negate that risk
The only people I want having access to my DNA sequence are those bound by HIPAA, and only then if it’s necessary. Yes, I’m curious, but until we have better parameters on what, who, and why people can have access to this kind of information (even anonymized), I’m strongly disinclined.
hahah this is how I found out (& my whole family found out, including my dad) I have another brother! I am so so so happy i’ve gotten to meet him & love him now :’) he is 30 years old and perfect!
Being of two minds on doing a DNA test as well. Of course I want to help catch a criminal or identify remains. But I don’t want my DNA just out there being used to discriminate in hiring or find relatives I have no interest in meeting.
I did 23 and me a couple years ago. I did it more for the non genealogy stuff like Neanderthal Ancestry and found it interesting. The genealogy part just confirmed what I already knew, 99.8% European and 0.2% Native American. I had to setup an account but I don't pay an ongoing amount for a membership.
Yeah that part confused me too I didn't even know there was a membership available, and my account still updates me whenever I get a new relative match 🤷♀️ I'm Canadian, so maybe that's just in the US?
Could you please do video about Leslie Van Houten and her multiple trials concerning the Manson family murders as well as her most recent approval for parole
I work in local news in the area, couple corrections and updates. -Moscow, Idaho is pronounced 'Moss-co,' not like the Russian 'moss-cow' (locals get pretty testy about this). -Goncalves is pronounced 'gone-sal-ves.' -Originally, the car was not identified as a Hyundai Elantra, it was just a white or silver 2000s era SUV, which is likely why you saw such high numbers. It was narrowed down to a white Hyundai Elantra a few days later after further tips and video surveillance came in. In an update to this case, maybe his defense team is a fan of your videos, because they did motion to compel discovery for the DNA profile that was used to narrow the investigation. I believe this was the end of...June? Maybe July. Time is a blur... Anyway. The State argued the IGG was not used to formulate probable cause, and was not use as exculpatory evidence for his arrest. Rather, the DNA evidence for the arrest warrant came from DNA of Kohberger's father gathered from the trash. The State further argued it was not a Fourth Amendment violation because the DNA used to generate the IGG was abandoned at the scene. They also stated the IGG profile was erased and all records destroyed after it the Kohberger was determined to be the focus of the investigation as part of standard FBI protocol, and they no longer had the profile to give. The response from the Defense was interesting. I'll just say, this shit is wild. I'm not a lawyer, but I read a lot--A LOT--of legal docs for my job. Ann Taylor has some of the snarkiest, off-the-wall filings I've had the dubious honor of reading. And Kohberger's case is inundated with filings, all publicly available on the Idaho Supreme Court website under their Cases of Interest page. What a headache to wade through... For the record, I personally don't think Kohberger deserves the time of day or attention he obviously wants. But the legal filings behind this case are abundant and interesting. I'd love a deeper look at the legal goings-on in this case from someone who is actually trained in law.
I haven't watched the video yet, but I just had to stop and complement you - the blue velvet with the gold jewelry and your hair color is so beautiful! Love it! 😊
Honestly love my ancestry test they don’t make you pay a fee it’s just the flat out cost, and they’re always on sale at Mother’s Day/Father’s Day/blk Fri/ Christmas
My daughter paid to get her DNA done, inspite that I and her sister told her that we all knew what the results would be. What we already knew about where the grand and great grandparents, etc. were born. The results come back as showing exactly what we predicted the results would be. To me it was a waste of her money; and now the cops have access to all of our lives. Our DNA profiles and medical history. Can't prevent the cops from invading our privacy, because of this loophole in the law.
I haven’t been in this situation, so, I can’t say how I’d react for sure. However, I feel like if one of my relatives did commit SA or a murder, they probably should go to prison
I decided to opt in because my first cousin is a small-time criminal whose crimes have been escalating in severity over the years. I would feel horrible if he one day kills someone and law enforcement weren't able to bring justice to the victim and their family because they didn't have the DNA evidence they needed. Hopefully nothing ever comes of my agreeing to opt-in, but it makes me feel better to know that I've done what I can to help if something like that does happen.
I was one of the early adopters of consumer whole genome sequencing (WGS), only to find out after the fact that the Chinese govt likely has my genomic data way after the fact 😅. I was quite hopeful that I might be able to find some insights towards my personal health challenges, and opted for the WGS purchase/opportunity not only thanks to the comprehensive data compared to 23andme and related services, but also thanks to the stated data privacy policy. Of course, that policy has transformed just a bit across 6 years, and they happened to rely on an external sequencing group in China named BGI during the company's early years before they set up their own internal operations. So yeah, doesn't seem likely that my personal data is nearly as protected as i had maybe hoped, but what will actually end up coming of it in terms of future risks - is still a mystery.
I think this should not be an easy decision for anyone. I have not yet done any of this testing, but it's not the cops I'm worried about. It's the insurance companies (health and life). My understanding is that currently insurance companies cannot access your genetic information, or, if they do so, they cannot use it to discriminate against you. But this stuff is new, and a consensus could easily develop whereby it is considered only "reasonable" for insurance companies to be aware of the risk they are assuming in insuring someone, and it could become a factor in either increasing your premiums or denying you coverage altogether. It's probably the best argument for national health insurance (but there's still the life insurance problem).
So here's the thing about the "genetic testing" places like 23 and me do. For background: before medical school I was a nurse for over a decade while finishing my other degrees, dual major in environmental science and biomedical science. The latter was a LOT about genetics, genealogy, human development, micro/molecular biology, and what has come to be called bioinformatics. So all humans, because they are humans, have almost the exact same DNA. Genes don't actually vary all that much, there are various alleles of genes, meaning they code for a different variant of a thing, eg: eye color, but largely the DNA is the same with a couple variations. After all the DNA encodes a protein which you can think of as a string of magnets, and each needs to have the magnetic part pointing in the right direction for the protein to fold correctly and do its job. Sickle cell is a classic example of a single amino acid (one single magnet) being changed in the coding, causing the protein for hemoglobin not to fold properly. So largely very similar, most differences come in between genes where essentially you can think of these areas as dimmer switches for the genes, controlling how often, how fast, or how steady the genes are transcribed. So the big differences between gene alleles usually are the result of a single nucleotide in the DNA, that cause a change to the RNA it codes for, and then the protein it translates to. Sickle cell is a single nucleotide polymorphism, or what we call SnPs. These SnP regions on the DNA will have a SLIGHTLY different spot within the gene, meaning the electronegativity at that spot is different for that gene. What these companies do is they have a SnP card or chip, with the opposite "magnetism" of a whole bunch of known SnPs, and they flouresce when the magnet from DNA with those SnPs interact with the chip. But what does that ACTUALLY tell us? Not a ton tbh, and it's all based on correlation with all of the other people they have tested. As their database gets larger, they get more accurate, but they aren't testing all DNA, they are just checking to see of you have any of the specific SnPs they happen to test for and correlating with whT they've seen over time. DNA testing for crimes, I think is pretty flawed. Like.. really flawed. They aren't testing a whole strand of DNA to see what gene alleles you have, in what order, and how the genes are regulated. They simple mix all the DNA up and see what alleles are there, if even that. Our DNA is 99% identical to bobobos...human to human the variations are more about the shit attached to the DNA controlling the rates of things. Bottom line: 23 and me data would be useless. Thought they would pretend it's not. Now if you actually analyzed the FULL DNA sequence, yea thats where you find the actual evidence. But if they aren't doing it fully....
I’ve done a 23 and me as well as an ancestry test. My best friend is a genetic genealogist and there were lots of questions about my family line because my grandfather was the product of a r*pe perpetrated by a plantation owner onto a slave. He was then given to a another family of slaves at the time to raise. He grew up as a share cropper under that same plantation owner who fathered him but for years we never knew who he was so I never knew his family. He was born in 1914 so a lot to trace back. My friend was able to figure it all out. She does incredible work. She connected me with family I never would have otherwise been connected with. If you ever want to look into doing it and want a professional to do it for you I’d be more than happy to facilitate for you. She has all her credentials and everything so you can get her as you see fit of course. Often time she takes cases for free because she just loves the field. All in all I say go for it. It’s not perfect. Someone who knows what they are doing should be able to thoroughly explain to you exactly what you are actually getting and cut through the company marketing BS but there’s much more you can do than just seeing where you’re from or whatever. You can connect with people, you can have health testing done, you can even break down the DNA you have and who exactly in your family line you got it from. Pretty cool stuff. But you really need to have someone who knows what they are doing to help you or it isn’t as worth it in my opinion. Also, if you go through a professional you don’t need to pay the subscription fee because it’s all done through their account and they already hold the annual subscription. Also, if your siblings do it too you can figure out exactly which DNA you share and break down how it manifests within your physical traits etc and who you got it from. It’s pretty neat. But like I said, make sure you have someone who can fully explain the scope of what you are actually getting and if it is the right fit for the information you specifically want.
My mom, who was adopted in the 60's did one of these and discovered all her biological siblings! She has found 10 half siblings (along with the twin sister she was adopted with) and my dad has learned a lot about his family, as the records were lost. It is quite cool! But the story of my moms siblings could be a TV show, honestly its WILD
Thanks for the great video and insights into such a nuanced topic. I’d highly recommend the Bear Brook podcast to anyone interested in forensic genealogy and/or cold cases, It’s a refreshingly respectful take on true crime reporting that details how forensic genealogy (at the time still in its infancy) was integral in identifying victims of cold cases and ultimately identifying a perpetrator. Despite highlighting the positive outcomes in this particular story, there’s lengthy discussion on how advanced and popularised it has become in such a short period, as well as the ethics and legality of its use. I suspect more states will begin implementing similar laws to those you have discussed, especially as forensic genealogy continues to be associated with such high profile cases.
I have done a couple of them. My child first did genesight testing. It was because we were struggling to find the right medication for them. Then, later, I did genesight testing because I was tired of doctors trying to put me on antidepressants even though they cause bad side effects for me. I learned every medication my child can't take. I too can't take. On the other hand they can take some I can't take. Then I did genopalet. I did this to try to find a better way to eat and curb the weight gain caused by medication. This test helped me to learn about what vitamins I most likely need higher doses in. One of my siblings did ancestry testing. They got some good information. I want to do the 23 and me version that tests genetic health markers. There are a lot of health conditions in my family and this test might help rule some things out or bring some to my attention. It just is expensive. Since my DNA is already in databases, why not add more places.
My sister and I just did ancestry for Christmas, my dad was big into our ancestry before he passed and we wanted to pick it back up together. I am all ears for this video! 👁️👄👁️
I did an Ancestry test last year. I wouldn’t say there were any big surprises with it but it was interesting. My mom is adopted and I have siblings who given up for adoption and I wanted to know more about that. I feel it was worth it just for the novelty of that but people from more traditional families probably wouldn’t get much out of them.
I bought a 23 & Me test + membership on sale last Christmas. I don't know a lot about my extended family on either side and I was able to connect with a few relatives I've never met before who I may not have met otherwise. I was also very curious to see if I was a gene carrier for the couple of different genes associated with breast cancer and a few other things that they test for, since it's significantly cheaper than going to a doctor to test for those things individually. It's a cool experience and helpful to see what they come up with, but probably not worth handing over your DNA.
Hey Leeja! Could you do a video about the Alec Baldwin case. He is to Face Involuntary Manslaughter Charges in the 'Rust' Shooting Death of Halyna Hutchins and I wanted to know more about what that all means. 😊 Great video as always!
To answer your question in the intro, I took an Ancestry DNA test along with one for my oldest sister & younger sister and I just had to pay $60 for each one (not all at once). My ethnicity is: 23% Nigerian 16% Scottish 14% from Cameroon, Congo, & Western Bantu 13% Mali 12% Ivory Coast & Ghana 11% Benin & Togo 3% Senegali 2% Native American (labeled "Indigenous Americas - North) 2% German 1% each of Southern Bantu, Native Mexican (labeled "Indigenous Americas - Mexico), Sweden & Denmark, and Welsh. I think that there's always an inherent risk that law enforcement could abuse the DNA in a database, but I can say that if a family member committed a crime and my DNA could be used to solve a mystery for said crime or to prove my innocence I'll do what I gotta do to get or serve proper justice. Honestly, I want to know everything I can about me and my family history because, on top of being a news junkie, I love having data at my disposal to back up anything I talk about.
No way. Your DNA is your ultimate identification. There needs to be a framework around the collection and use. Medical samples should be protected under HIPPA laws.
Well, I'm a veteran, my DNA is already on file. Part of being in the military is signing away your rights. So I figure I have nothing to lose by doing a DNA thing with Ancestry.
Other than also revealing genetic and health information of your immediate family too. Maybe ask if they want to know, and if they want you to know that kind of intimate information about them.
I have been going around in my head about this myself. I think that the police should be held to the same requirements as other personal data collection techniques, like listening in on phone conversations.
DNA Nightmare - This really happened and omg. - I got a 23 and me kit for Mother’s Day about 5 years ago. My daughter said she’d show me hers after I got my results. I spit in the tube, sent it in and forgot it. A while later, I got my results and at that time my daughter finally showed me her results. I have Scottish DNA. The problem with this is my mother is Welsh / Scandinavian and my Dad was German / Irish / indigenous American. My dad, who had been dead for 15 years at this point, was not my biological father. I called my 85 year old mother and to ask her about the test and she busted out in tears. My daughter held back her dna results because of the lack of indigenous American dna. My Dad was a registered member of an indigenous tribe. He was 1/4 indigenous blood. Anyway, my mom told me my biological father was her best friends ex husband. My mother confessed her and my dad were “swingers” in the early 1960’s.🤦🏻♀️ yikes She said It never crossed her mind that I wasn’t my dads child …although I was the only red haired, green eyed child after she had already had 4 brown haired , Olive skinned, brown eyed children. I’m also the only girl. lol. My mother is gone now but I let her know I loved her, no matter who my dna came from.
I think we all need to accept that we have lost all privacy in this aspect. All it takes is ONE relative to post willingly with full consent, and they’ve got your whole family no matter what. More just makes it that much easier. That’s basically the reality.
Another thing to consider is that private companies like 23&me say that they wont release records to the police, but with private companies that could change at any time (I believe). So who knows if their policy will change, or even where that database will end up in say 30 years.
My brother got one done. I just want to believe we have the same data. Lol. It was interesting. I don't recall much about it, it's been a while. I don't think I'll ever do one though.
I'm torn about this too. I live in a European country that was occupied by the nazi's during WW2. My country used to be diligent about keeping records, but as a result, when the nazi's took control of the civil archives that registered births, weddings, deaths, housing, school attendance, etc., they could simply look up where Jewish people lived. In some cities, heroes put their own lives on the line to destroy tonnes of records, which potentially saved 1000's of people. Those were physical documents that could be burned, but modern digitally stored data could potentially last forever. So even if I trust my current government and privacy laws, what if one day I cannot trust the people in charge? On the other hand, I do want to help solve crime. And over the last years, two child rape and murder cases here have been solved by DNA-genealogy research campaigns where people in a certain region were asked to voluntarily submit DNA. It's a conundrum, but with the direction that international politics are taking these days, with fascism on the rise and the dismantling of women's rights. I don't feel safe to entrust every type of personal information to the future.
I did ancestry, we found out that not only were my mothers parents not born in Ireland as they had told my mom, neither were either of their parents. We also found out my dad has an older half brother we didnt know about. Whoops
My mother in-law got me one for Christmas one year and then a couple weeks later, she told me not to use it because if I find out I'm Jewish, I'll get put on a list 🤦🏻♂️
I like the fact that our genetic linkages and (dis)similarities are becoming more easily available. I guess I'm pretty close to the maximum DNA openness side of the continuum.
i did it... lol, my genetic profile was of ZERO surprise; 99.9% Northern European, mostly Irish, Scottish and German...-traces of English and French... i have no worry about my DNA having been collected...perhaps i'm not paranoid enough...? i didn't pay a monthly thing, because the extra stuff didn't really interest me... all said, i think that it was a waste of money, as i really didn't learn anything that i already didn't know...i could have taken my fiancé out for a nice beef boxty and berliner weisse, and been just as satisfied! btw, love your work; you remind me of this one punk-rocker that i went to university...many moons ago...keep rockin'!
I absolutely hate these companies. I hate that a relative can provide access to my genetic information to the polices -- and to private companies -- without my consent. Right now, the most malevolent activity we're seeing is cops searching for relatives. We also see questionable research, racial coding, and inaccurate descriptions of how close people are as relatives. Happy families are torn apart by secrets from long ago about who's not blood related, and what does it matter? But I'm more concerned about what happens when someone starts looking at my sister's data and sees she's got a propensity for some medical condition and now my health insurance goes up. Or her kids can't get treatment for a preexisting condition because she's got a condition that nobody's even heard of today. Once we sell our data, it's never going away. Sure, the sites have certain terms of service today, and that doesn't help when that data is 1. hacked, 2. used for a "medical study" a la facebook, or 3. acquired by Amazon along with the rest of the company. You might give consent to share your genetic data to a company that allows everyone and their brother to access it, but everyone related to you from now until the end of time has not.
I disagree because I absolutely hate secrets. Besides, this is the dawning of the information age. All will be revealed and secrets will cease to exist. It's inevitable, you might as well accept it.
Yes, my DNA is all over the internet, with multiple companies... because I'm a genetic genealogist 😉 Also, yes, FamilyTreeDNA does sell DNA kits. It's not the same as GEDmatch. Yes, I am opted-in on GEDmatch.
7:48 he was doing a report on that topic for a class. so that's why he was asking that kind of question. but i have no idea why he'd pick that subject to make a report on, since obviously he wasn't gonna get anyone confessing to their crimes for his paper?? (it was also alleged that this paper was the reason he killed the students but i don't remember where i heard that, and have no idea if that's been confirmed or disproven or anything)
I just clicked over from my Ancestry DNA updates to this video...no lie! I enjoy that one because of the family tree research it kick starts... and I don't mind of it helps find a long lost serial killer in my lineage lol
This is exactly the reason why I won’t do a 23 and me deal. I know where I came from and I don’t trust/like the government/state/police either. They are professionals and have other resources. The presumption of innocence is the cornerstone of our criminal justice system and I refuse to participate in anyway/shape/ or form
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⁉Should cops have access to our DNA???
Moira looked adorbs in the Factor spot ❤
If we (in the US) had Medicare for all, that would/should significantly reduce the concern for protecting access to our DNA ... I'd offer mine to help solve a crime 🤗💗
One thing that is of concern is the fact that DNA is a lot more complicated than TV makes it out to be. Take Chimerism, for example. It's where a person absorbs a twin in the womb and ends up having different parts of their body with each's DNA. A woman whose ovaries belonged to the twin would produce children who were biologically her nieces and nephews. I am sure there have been plenty of paternity cases where men had this condition and were deemed not the father, which makes cases of SA even trickier. This is just one complication, I'm sure there are many others.
My Mom did 23 and me because she didn’t know who her father was and her mom (my grandmother) was adopted. So we truly had no idea what her genetics was. Come to find out that my grandfather lived in the same county as us and he had no idea my mom existed. We got to know him a year after meeting him as he passed away with cancer a year later. So it was worth it to us.
That is such a beautiful blessing! Prayers to you and your family🙏
I'm pretty sure this story is one of the poster-stories for why genetic testing is a success. Unlocking the mystery of your genes, your genetic makeup, is so fascinating and necessary to some people. I have no problem with society putting away murderers as a side benefit as long as genetic testing stays out of the hands of for-profit endeavors that would use it for discrimination money making purposes.
My mom’s mom was adopted. At least one each of my parents’ sisters have done dna tests, so we have some vague clues about my grandma’s background (and my dad’s side), but I haven’t done one myself. Still debating doing one for myself, but I do think it might be neat to see if I could find more distant cousins or some other blood relation of my grandma.
Not sure you will feel it's worth it later if your child makes a stupid youthful mistake and grandma's DNA is used against them to charge them with breaking into a house they thought was empty or whatever. Or even if they come gangbusters to question your kid because cousin Bob, you don't even know would carry the same % of grandma's DNA, and they did some stupid shit.
I'm not opposed to people be held accountable for their behavior but I have reservations about being able to use other people's DNA without warrants to search for potential suspects...
😅
Something I'd like to add is that DNA testing can be flawed: we had a case here in Germany where police searched for years for a serial killer. In the end it turned out that the swabs they used for testing were contaminated. The DNA belonged to an employee of the company producing the swabs. This made me realize that DNA testing is not the miracle solution police reporting and TV shows make it out to be.
Stuff You Should Know, is that you? 😉
The same thing happened with the Jon Benet Ramsey case. The DNA on the clothes belonged to the factory employees where they were manufactured
@@ZoraTheberge Good case in support of washing your clothes before wear.
But on the flip side isn't this how they caught the BSK? in California. Sorry we had a few active all at the same time when I was a kid and I get them mixed up. His daughter did a test
@@JenSell1626 not arguing but like all things there's a good/bad side. Look at AI, it's cool but it's still racist AF. And yes Data bases are a bitch but they can also be helpful tools. Ask any Librarian
I work in data science and am well versed in data privacy laws. I would only get genetic testing done in a medical situation. Once data is out in the world, it can’t be pulled back and the laws probably won’t help you.
But so many people nowadays do it- even if you didn’t, likely a few first degree relations have and your DNA can be inferred, especially against a possible match. Or for insurance health risks. Or whatever.
Exactly this, and so you can't just consider the current state of laws, but also all future possible laws. As a person residing in the US, I have to consider whether that DNA could be used to prosecute and punish someone for getting an abortion. That's an extremely real possible outcome given the *current* uses of this method, and one I certainly would not agree with. Or look at world history and consider that it could also be used by a fascist government to track down non-practicing Jewish persons who are related to Jewish persons and send them to concentration camps. The possibilities for abuse are horrific, and the upside is simply 'what if some distant relative committed a crime we can't solve?!' Well, then maybe they could spend more than 0.01% of the police budget on solving those crimes, instead of on brutalizing minorities and peaceful protesters!
Is there a way you can send take down requests for these types of databases? It's important that people have the right to take it down.
exactly
@@MUZUKUN-YTOnce it is in the cloud, it is out there FOREVER. You can trend make it more difficult to access, but you can never claw it back.
The wild thing for me is the consent aspect. If you have several close relatives use those tests and choose to share that information, you could, in principle, effectively lose your consent to disclose medical or other information. Building a family tree and understanding genetic risks would take that away… and of course privacy issues around old adoptions, etc. Not just legal consequences. And, it is unregulated in pet products, so not all dog and cat health tests are the same!
This is a really interesting and important take. I did 23 And Me about 6 years ago, and I was excited to share everything I learned with my parents and grandma (my grandma is the one who got me the test as a gift). I learned that I had a higher risk of age-related ocular degeneration. It doesn't mean I'll ever have it, it's just something I have a higher risk of than some other people... But when I told my mom that, she was really upset with me. Her grandmother had it and had gone blind, and letting my mom know that I had a slightly elevated risk meant that she did, too, and she wouldn't have wanted to know that. It's not as bad as if I were to have the gene for Huntington's or something similar that would mean she would definitely develop the disease, but in that moment I accidentally stripped her of her ability to consent to that sort of information. It was an accident, like I had no idea that her grandmother had it and would therefore reveal which parent gave me an elevated risk, but I also couldn't have known I was keeping her from being able to consent to that risk factor when I said it.
As the technology changes and advances, we will only be able to detect more of these things. I want to help find violent offenders, but you're absolutely right. To some extent, putting my genome into a public database like that would strip everyone I'm related to of the ability to consent.
My parents and several brothers have done this, effectively making me and my DNA inferred against my consent- I’m a bit bitter lol
I think this is connected to another thing that is happening on a broader level!
There's this person on TikTok who finds people's birthdays on social media with their consent. Lots of them are confident that it cannot be found, but if the person does end up finding it, it's almost always because friends and family have a lower standard of privacy for their personal info.
So in a way, we are not in control of our own data because having any social connections makes us and our information more visible
I don't know where things are at in the US but I know in Canada we've had legislation that prevents insurance companies from using genetic DNA information to determine your risk of illness and increase costs or refuse coverage to certain people. However, Canada obviously has universal healthcare and, while there are enough things that aren't covered that health insurance is still largely a necessity, insurance companies don't have quite the same amount of power and leverage they do in the states.
@@oldbluewitch3386 For them to do that, they need to already suspect you. They don’t go around picking up random people’s trash to test just in case. This is a fundamentally different issue, especially since they’d be using other people’s information who are unconnected to the crime except for being related, often distantly, to the perpetrator.
Great points! I am also concerned with how insurance companies may use this accessible DNA to decline coverage to consumers.
This is my main concern. If my relative is caught up on murder charges because my dna led the cops to them well don’t do murder next time. But if my relative was denied coverage because my dna said we were predisposed to something, especially if they eventually did get that thing, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
I think that’s going to be the huge legal battle out of DNA technology. I wouldn’t put it past Capitalist corporations to do anything evil to make a buck. It’s effectively eugenics if it gets there at all. Who decides what are “good” and “bad” traits?
@@mermaidcatching I wholeheartedly agree with you! But I laughed really hard at "well don't do murder next time" 😆 just like: "Welp! 🤷♂️ I dunno what to tell you, you done f***ed up"
This is my biggest issue as well... efff insurance companies.
THIS.
Same, Leeja - I'm so torn on this.... If it were just used for major crimes (rape, murder) and it could help solve cold cases & exonerate innocent people I'd be all for the public databases. BUT, as we've seen time and time again, the police/ government will always find ways to keep pushing that boundary & I can easily see this being used in the (near) future for more nefarious purposes. I'm glad to hear that the private companies aren't openly sharing with government agencies - I did not know that! I also appreciate that states are starting to create laws to minimize/ restrict how it's used.
Exactly. It would be great and I don’t think the concept should be fully abandoned, but like you said, the state can never be trusted no matter where you are with having people’s DNA readily available through a database. On one hand you will probably not have to worry about it being used against you for multiple factors, but there’s too many risks for those that do have to worry about it.
It’s a tricky case as well since it could help apprehend innocent people thrown in jail.
And it is not people who can afford lawyers that the cops will misuse this against.
I would watch Veritasium's video on the topic before making my decision. It is easy to say "limit to murder and rape", but them your grandma is beaten ALMOST to death, and the tool cannot be used, because she didn't die and you kind of wish the definition was a bit broader...
@@kikiTHEalien, most crimes aren't that hard to solve. Grandma's been assaulted and robbed? OK, which of the kids has a money problem and/or a history of violence against women? The use case for forensic genealogy is incredibly marginal, it's only going to come up in the rare cases where the perpetrator wasn't known to the victim.
@@jacobvardy As I said, just watch the Veritasium video. It is much better informed and the data is structured, it is not just someone's opinion on a topic they incidentally came about.
If my parents upload their DNA to be used by these third-party sites, they inadvertently given my DNA--at least enough markers that are essentially me to these sites without my consent. I think that's a real ethical dilemma. Even if I never consented, I am practically on the database. With enough generations placed on these sites, there'd almost be no more need to gather consent forms anymore because a good enough sleuth could ascertain genealogy connections without a newer profile added.🤔 5 people consent and they've practically given another's consent they don't own to give via genetic relation.
To summarize
You consent doesn't mean the rest of your relatives do. I think that's a strong reason, at least to me, of why not to upload your DNA to any site.
I did 23 & Me many years ago and ignorantly skimmed the terms of service. Little did I know how powerful that decision was. Technically me agreeing to a terms of service is not only on my behalf but apparently all my close relatives. Kind of insane when really thinking about it.
23andMe doesn't share data with the police. You don't know anything about this stuff.
There’s a dark side: I was shocked to find 2 half-siblings. One thought the guy that raised her was her real dad. Oops. She doesn’t talk to her parents anymore because she felt lied to. Sad.
That is really tragic,I hope there was more to her decision to stop speaking to her parents Then simply the fact they didn't tell her that her father was not her biological father. I'm not saying that it is right to lie to your children but if she was lovingly treated like a daughter by him and had no reason to suspect that she Wasn't his flesh and blood so to speak-- Then that means he was being a good father. The fact that they waited too long to tell her or thought telling her when she was older might break The bond between them or cause her to feel lied to which may be why they didn't- is such a shame. If she was raised by someone who loved her like she was his own and she rejected him because of a mistake... parents are human beings too. For all we know it might have been the mother who didn't Want her to Know? And for the non bio father who loved her to be rejected is just such a shame. I wish people were able to value the love they received and not care if the person was biologically tied to them. Of course I can never truly understand how it feels to not be genetically connected to my own mother.(single parent kid here) But as a stepmother I'd like to think That my love matters. And i've actually been thinking of becoming a foster mom. But I admit it does hurt to think that my love for a child might never compensate for a biological parent that couldn't or wouldn't fulfil their parental duties. But I guess that's why being a parent is about *unconditional love, you can't place conditions on it. Maybe one day your half sibling, she'll be able to forgive them. I hope she can for her own sake because it is a hard world out here without family to rely on- I know how difficult that is and I wouldn't wish it on anyone, Which is part of the reason I want to give someone else a family too.
Holy smoke! I just remembered! My mother found out she had a 1/2 sibling! Turns out this woman found out on her mother's death bed that the man that she thought was her father wasn't really her father so she started searching every site she could to find out who her father was! My mother's brother had Uploaded some of their information to an ancestry type Website. But what the family found out Is that this half sibling was created while my grandfather was having an affair as my grandmother was dying of cancer. So my mom was NOT super psyched about it. However eventually my mother made friends with her but she was definitely not happy about it at first.😳
I hope you weren't the one that informed her.
Last time I checked it was something like 20-25% of daddies aren't the daddy. That may be including data from before no-fault divorce but was a painstaking report with lots of variables factored in that began within the CDC. I've been around long enough now to not be surprised at all. The most virtuous goody-goody seeming people sometimes get hungry for something not on the regular menu. And they more they criticize such behavior often means they've done it or are thinking of it. _She doesn’t talk to her parents anymore because she felt lied to_ LMAO! parents and children lie to each other constantly and she is no exception. I've always taught that it's more important to look at what we choose to believe and how often we deny the truth.
@@shy404usernotfound 23&Me informed her, not me. We both got a notice of a sibling DNA match when we were strangers.
It is also worth noting that DNA testing labs are not well regulated. There has been a pretty big recent controversy where the state forsenics lab in Queensland, Australia turned out to have been screwing up DNA tests for the last several years without anyone noticing.
Across states, except South Australia and Tasmania, threw out over 3000 r*pe kits from over 20 years of SA and DV reports.
Took an ethics class all about this stuff years ago, was very against it for privacy concerns (insurance, etc), but then it helped my genetic brother find us! My mom donated eggs years ago when trying to have me, and the clinic in charge shut down ages ago. We always wondered if there was another kid running around, and lo and behold there was! 2 months younger than me. He found us through one of my cousins on ancestry! It's s been so cool!
Very cool. Ty for sharing that.
Did your brother know that his Mom wasn't his bio-mom?
Another huge issue is the fact that the Direct to consumer genetic tests like 23&me and ancestry can sell and use your genetic information. They can sell to pharma companies, or insurance companies, or whomever and essentially use your data for research. It is much less regulated than CLIA certified labs providing provider ordered genetic testing.
My brother and father did Ancestry and 23andme. We found out my grandfather had a whole second family before he met my grandmother! Now we have a lot more people on our family tree! My father wasn't shocked by this news at all. He said he was glad we found this information after my grandfather and my grandmother had passed. That would have been some awkward conversation! He did remember some odd encounters with various 'aunts' and 'uncles' he remembered as a boy. Now, he's got NAMES!
I, too, have been battling a mystery chronic illness, so I am sharing what I learned by taking a 23andme test. I took the 23andme test in 2018, and everything looked like I expected. I have all of my Dad's problematic health issues and that's it (T2D, WPW, PFO, MVP, AMDR-wet) My Mom's health is really very good. I recognized our family lineage to be in alignment with everything that I had expected and the map was highlighted in a way that I expected.
In 2019, I received an email update from 23andme that changed that (cuz, yeah, that's how science works) and reclassified my Russian ancestry as ::drumroll:: Ashkenazi. My Great Grandmother immigrated here from Russia as a child-refugee, but neither of her parents survived the journey to the US. She was 'adopted' (sold) here to a ::drumroll:: Roman Catholic family.
Having Ashkenazi ancestry has opened up the pool of possible diagnosis for me that hadn't been considered previously, because I look devastatingly yt. I actually might beat you on that whiteness palette, Leeja.
I caught that you shared that you don't know your Dad. If I didn't know my Dad, I would take the 23andme test immediately. My doctors have always been, BuT iT's OnLy YoUr MoThEr'S hEaLtH tHaT mAtTeRs. This is absolutely not true, because genetics typically require 2 matching copies of problematic DNA to be troublesome.
So, while my Dad's health is horrible and my Mom's health is flawless, *I* have the Ashkenazi genetics that have synced up with my Dad's 'bad' ones, because of my *mother*.
I know what to watch out for and I have been taking steps since 2019 to prevent the obvious problems heading towards me, such as T2D and heart disease
I have also found benefits from running my raw data through sites like Nutrahacker, Prometheus and whatnot.
Has it diagnosed me? Nope. But it's been a worthwhile tool to consult with while trying to figure out my mystery illness.
I personally don't do crimes. I am also not going to procreate, nor is my brother. My parents don't do crimes. If someone in my extended family has done some, well, I hope they're put through justice.
Long story short, I am not going to slow down information coming in on a very real and active (years) mystery illness that is currently impacting my health and quality of life on a 'what-if'.
I'm a survivor and my survival instincts told me that this was a risk worth taking, and should a problem arise, I will deal with that as it comes.
Wishing you luck in finding and fighting your illness
@@FeScully Awww. Thank you. That's very kind of you. It's been going on for years now.
Bruh. BRUH. The blue velvet and the short white hair??? 🙌🔥🙌🔥 Makeup on point, and accessories on point toooo 😭
It's too tempting. They just can't resist. We're way past that level of intrusion already
On that video about internet sleuths: Yes Please. and As an Idaho resident, I get creeped out by this case too.
I got AncestryDNA with my mom on a Mother’s Day special (two for the price of one) and I thought it was pretty cool! We’re Mexican-American so we didn’t know our ethnic mix, since being Latino is a big melting pot. It was super interesting and we compared how much DNA I got from her vs my dad, saw how much indigenous vs white we had, etc. My aunt is trying to use it to find her dad, and since her half sister (my mom) used it we can compare matches that they share vs those they don’t. All in all it depends on what you want out of it. I was pretty satisfied!
Edit: Also I uploaded my DNA to GEDMatch last year. I was hesitant and torn but I do want to do a small part to help solve violent crimes
I've done 23andme and have been in contact with two half cousins on my Dads side, so it was very neat. That being said if you don't know one side of the family be prepared to find out why that side is so fractured. Not everyone is as excited to find out who/how they came to be so you may get a few cold shoulders.
Really enjoy your videos!
I refrain from taking those genetic tests because I'm more concerned with what insurance companies can do with the information. Like deny you coverage based on your lineage being suspectable to certain diseases or problems. I don't commit crimes so I'm not worried about that. If a family member is found because of my DNA that's on them.
I consider myself fortunate that I don't really have a reason to do one of those tests. The idea of putting that kind of data out there doesn't seem safe in the long run.
I've been following a scary DNA-related story that you might be interested to look into, that of large"clusters" of half-siblings that are the result of unscrupulous men in the fertility industry, basically substituting their own, uh, donations, from those of would-be fathers and donors. The possibility of donor-conceived people unknowingly dating their half-siblings is just appalling, plus folks not knowing what medical issues might be lurking in their genes. There's a TikToker named Laura High who has a lot of content about this issue. I'd love to see a legal analysis of it.
Great video--I really enjoyed the intersection of true crime, privacy, and ethics.
I haven’t done the dna tests, but my parents did and they found my half brother that was given up for adoption by his birth mom! I found out he existed on a Wednesday, and by Friday we were having dinner with him and his wife.
I did one of these, my aunt was really pushing it because we didn’t know who my dad was. She did a lot of contacting 3rd cousins and was able to find him so that’s amazing. But I have thought about what if I’m linked to a crime!! Also interesting for my twin brother who didn’t want to do the dna test cause well they basically have his dna now😬 I don’t think I’ll have to worry about the crime but I wish I had read more of the fine print.
Not his full DNA, unless you were born amab identical twins. By your name, you're most likely fraternal. So his full DNA isn't on the database, but the link to him would be
After the golden state killer was caught I sent my dogs DNA in because I was sure he was a killer... turns out he's just a hound sitter mix with a tendency to try to push me down the stairs 🤷♀️
I’m fascinated with genealogy and family trees. So I had an Ancestry account before they offered DNA testing. It was worth it to my family because it helped us fill in some holes. We all had privacy concerns then, and I picked Ancestry over 23 and me at the time for the privacy policies at the time.
I periodically get messages through the ancestry match app, urging me to put our profiles out on more public databases and the thought just skeeves me out.
I get that it’s a great tool and more reliable than eyewitness and more scientific. That’s all great but still massively invasive and opens the door to so much more. It’s also skewed to public databases which put a weird classism into the mix. My family that chose to do this are “protected” because we could afford a more expensive option than someone else who maybe had the same kind of questions. They could have only afforded the cheaper or free companies and now the government gets their DNA but not mine because capitalism.
It just seems like such a huge issue for us to be heading into without discussion or legal precedent and it feels like “serial killer” was a cheat to get us all okay with it without having to talk about it.
23 and private investigators and cops have been getting stuff out of trash for as long as I can remember. The idea is that it's not yours anymore, you threw it out and it would go to the garbage.
I am adopted and did 23 and me. I took awhile to decide as well but I am glad I did it. Not sure about the public sites since I have kids. However if they choose murder and are so sloppy they leave their DNA thats on them😂
So if, perchance, someone innocent gets picked up because of a mistake for a serious crime due to incomplete evidence, the wrong DNA or other errors, its okay and totally on them even if it was a relative that gave the comparison sample to one of these companies.
You should have a series where you analyse different Terms & Conditions of different websites !
Love this video! Thank you for clearing up the legality of investigative genetics. It’s mentioned more frequently but not detailed like this.
Got mine free because they wanted a bigger black sampling. Glad I got it. It connected me to lost relatives. The test told me nothing new. I did opt in because I don't want those criminals out with me
I did a dna test as part of a medical study and this issue was addressed in the paperwork basically saying they would comply with a warrant.
I have used one of the DNA sites and I found a new relative who didn't know her dad, but was a match as a cousin. So I helped her get in touch with him... total Greys Anatomy moment lol
didnt even think about how its the 4th amendment. love the connection and info you bring to it, and it is also entertining. great video and cant wait for the one on internet sleuths.
I'm also concerned that healthcare providers and insurers could make use of this data and deny coverage based on markers.
"If you have nothing to hide ...blah blah blah" . Heard that all my life
On the subject of DNA but not human DNA, there is testing for pets. Some pure breeds require the testing done for a certificate to be given. Others, when adopting a mutt, get it done to find out what breeds their dog is a mix of. The reason I am talking about dogs is because if on that test one of the banned dog breeds of the area a person lives shows on the test the family could be forced to surrender the dog, have to relocate, pay increased home insurance or loose the insurance. So that testing has risks, too.
I found my birth family through 23 & Me. As someone who was adopted and knew nothing about myself, it was very helpful. I was able to get pics of myself as a baby and toddler that I had never seen before. I also finally saw what my birth mom looked like because I couldn't remember and had no pictures. I have a very minimal relationship with my birth family because I decided that was best for me. I've never paid a membership fee, though 🤨
Use by law enforcement aside I hate that dna databases do not and cannot get consent from all parties before material relevant to them is published. Eg a friend of mine fell pregnant to her abuser when she was 14. She had the child and then gave him up for adoption. 22 years later her brother chose to do a dna test. Through this my friend’s child was able to find her. She did not want to know him, him making contact bought up a whole heap of trauma that she was not prepared to deal with. She was put in a really difficult position where she had to tell her son that she did not want to ever meet or speak with him and all because her brother gave up genetic material without her consent.
My biological cousin is incarcerated and his DNA was taken for Codis so I figured what did it matter now so I did a 23 and Me test. I was not going to donut but literally part of my dna is in Codis 😂
I live in Moscow and work at the University of Idaho. Lemme just say, that was a WILD time to be living here. The security was insane, many of my college aged co-workers starting packing around firearms. News crews were set up in front of the campus entrance every time there was an update in the case. The speculation was crazy.
back in 2018 I did the ancestry one around the holidays when it was half off. And when the implemented the membership fee. I definitely have not done that.
It's wild to me people gave up their DNA and paid to do so and didn't see this coming.
Barbara Rae-Venter states that : persons of northern and western europe, being concerned about privacy, I think that that horse already left the barn a long time ago.
This is a really interesting and nuanced question, because it comes down to more than just the ability to identify violent offenders. I am all for that. When you sign up for 23 And Me, though, they have an entire section in their terms of service about privacy related to your health information... that they have no intention of sharing with insurance companies, but it is possible that in the event of hacking or whatever they could get the information and while it's not legal now, in the future it could potentially influence your ability to get health insurance. I was immediately going to sign up for a database like the ones you mentioned specifically to help fight crime before remembering that. I did the test about 6yrs ago, though, so there could be different legislation in place to negate that risk
The only people I want having access to my DNA sequence are those bound by HIPAA, and only then if it’s necessary.
Yes, I’m curious, but until we have better parameters on what, who, and why people can have access to this kind of information (even anonymized), I’m strongly disinclined.
I find this topic so fascinating. So many new questions of how we should proceed lol.
Personally I have used 23 but that was back in the day when it was cheaper.
hahah this is how I found out (& my whole family found out, including my dad) I have another brother! I am so so so happy i’ve gotten to meet him & love him now :’) he is 30 years old and perfect!
Yess thanks for covering this!!
Being of two minds on doing a DNA test as well. Of course I want to help catch a criminal or identify remains. But I don’t want my DNA just out there being used to discriminate in hiring or find relatives I have no interest in meeting.
I did 23 and me a couple years ago. I did it more for the non genealogy stuff like Neanderthal Ancestry and found it interesting. The genealogy part just confirmed what I already knew, 99.8% European and 0.2% Native American. I had to setup an account but I don't pay an ongoing amount for a membership.
Yeah that part confused me too I didn't even know there was a membership available, and my account still updates me whenever I get a new relative match 🤷♀️ I'm Canadian, so maybe that's just in the US?
@@TheBizzle1984 I'm in the US. Maybe it's new.
Could you please do video about Leslie Van Houten and her multiple trials concerning the Manson family murders as well as her most recent approval for parole
😮😮😮
Thank you Leeja!
I work in local news in the area, couple corrections and updates.
-Moscow, Idaho is pronounced 'Moss-co,' not like the Russian 'moss-cow' (locals get pretty testy about this).
-Goncalves is pronounced 'gone-sal-ves.'
-Originally, the car was not identified as a Hyundai Elantra, it was just a white or silver 2000s era SUV, which is likely why you saw such high numbers. It was narrowed down to a white Hyundai Elantra a few days later after further tips and video surveillance came in.
In an update to this case, maybe his defense team is a fan of your videos, because they did motion to compel discovery for the DNA profile that was used to narrow the investigation. I believe this was the end of...June? Maybe July. Time is a blur... Anyway.
The State argued the IGG was not used to formulate probable cause, and was not use as exculpatory evidence for his arrest. Rather, the DNA evidence for the arrest warrant came from DNA of Kohberger's father gathered from the trash. The State further argued it was not a Fourth Amendment violation because the DNA used to generate the IGG was abandoned at the scene. They also stated the IGG profile was erased and all records destroyed after it the Kohberger was determined to be the focus of the investigation as part of standard FBI protocol, and they no longer had the profile to give.
The response from the Defense was interesting.
I'll just say, this shit is wild. I'm not a lawyer, but I read a lot--A LOT--of legal docs for my job. Ann Taylor has some of the snarkiest, off-the-wall filings I've had the dubious honor of reading. And Kohberger's case is inundated with filings, all publicly available on the Idaho Supreme Court website under their Cases of Interest page. What a headache to wade through...
For the record, I personally don't think Kohberger deserves the time of day or attention he obviously wants. But the legal filings behind this case are abundant and interesting. I'd love a deeper look at the legal goings-on in this case from someone who is actually trained in law.
I haven't watched the video yet, but I just had to stop and complement you - the blue velvet with the gold jewelry and your hair color is so beautiful! Love it! 😊
Honestly love my ancestry test they don’t make you pay a fee it’s just the flat out cost, and they’re always on sale at Mother’s Day/Father’s Day/blk Fri/ Christmas
My daughter paid to get her DNA done, inspite that I and her sister told her that we all knew what the results would be. What we already knew about where the grand and great grandparents, etc. were born. The results come back as showing exactly what we predicted the results would be. To me it was a waste of her money; and now the cops have access to all of our lives. Our DNA profiles and medical history. Can't prevent the cops from invading our privacy, because of this loophole in the law.
I haven’t been in this situation, so, I can’t say how I’d react for sure. However, I feel like if one of my relatives did commit SA or a murder, they probably should go to prison
I decided to opt in because my first cousin is a small-time criminal whose crimes have been escalating in severity over the years. I would feel horrible if he one day kills someone and law enforcement weren't able to bring justice to the victim and their family because they didn't have the DNA evidence they needed. Hopefully nothing ever comes of my agreeing to opt-in, but it makes me feel better to know that I've done what I can to help if something like that does happen.
I was one of the early adopters of consumer whole genome sequencing (WGS), only to find out after the fact that the Chinese govt likely has my genomic data way after the fact 😅. I was quite hopeful that I might be able to find some insights towards my personal health challenges, and opted for the WGS purchase/opportunity not only thanks to the comprehensive data compared to 23andme and related services, but also thanks to the stated data privacy policy. Of course, that policy has transformed just a bit across 6 years, and they happened to rely on an external sequencing group in China named BGI during the company's early years before they set up their own internal operations. So yeah, doesn't seem likely that my personal data is nearly as protected as i had maybe hoped, but what will actually end up coming of it in terms of future risks - is still a mystery.
I think this should not be an easy decision for anyone. I have not yet done any of this testing, but it's not the cops I'm worried about. It's the insurance companies (health and life). My understanding is that currently insurance companies cannot access your genetic information, or, if they do so, they cannot use it to discriminate against you. But this stuff is new, and a consensus could easily develop whereby it is considered only "reasonable" for insurance companies to be aware of the risk they are assuming in insuring someone, and it could become a factor in either increasing your premiums or denying you coverage altogether. It's probably the best argument for national health insurance (but there's still the life insurance problem).
So here's the thing about the "genetic testing" places like 23 and me do. For background: before medical school I was a nurse for over a decade while finishing my other degrees, dual major in environmental science and biomedical science. The latter was a LOT about genetics, genealogy, human development, micro/molecular biology, and what has come to be called bioinformatics.
So all humans, because they are humans, have almost the exact same DNA. Genes don't actually vary all that much, there are various alleles of genes, meaning they code for a different variant of a thing, eg: eye color, but largely the DNA is the same with a couple variations. After all the DNA encodes a protein which you can think of as a string of magnets, and each needs to have the magnetic part pointing in the right direction for the protein to fold correctly and do its job. Sickle cell is a classic example of a single amino acid (one single magnet) being changed in the coding, causing the protein for hemoglobin not to fold properly. So largely very similar, most differences come in between genes where essentially you can think of these areas as dimmer switches for the genes, controlling how often, how fast, or how steady the genes are transcribed.
So the big differences between gene alleles usually are the result of a single nucleotide in the DNA, that cause a change to the RNA it codes for, and then the protein it translates to. Sickle cell is a single nucleotide polymorphism, or what we call SnPs.
These SnP regions on the DNA will have a SLIGHTLY different spot within the gene, meaning the electronegativity at that spot is different for that gene.
What these companies do is they have a SnP card or chip, with the opposite "magnetism" of a whole bunch of known SnPs, and they flouresce when the magnet from DNA with those SnPs interact with the chip. But what does that ACTUALLY tell us? Not a ton tbh, and it's all based on correlation with all of the other people they have tested. As their database gets larger, they get more accurate, but they aren't testing all DNA, they are just checking to see of you have any of the specific SnPs they happen to test for and correlating with whT they've seen over time.
DNA testing for crimes, I think is pretty flawed. Like.. really flawed. They aren't testing a whole strand of DNA to see what gene alleles you have, in what order, and how the genes are regulated. They simple mix all the DNA up and see what alleles are there, if even that. Our DNA is 99% identical to bobobos...human to human the variations are more about the shit attached to the DNA controlling the rates of things.
Bottom line: 23 and me data would be useless. Thought they would pretend it's not.
Now if you actually analyzed the FULL DNA sequence, yea thats where you find the actual evidence. But if they aren't doing it fully....
They have mine after I got robbed at work. The police said they needed it.
Yeah the fact one's relatives can circumvent one's genetic privacy is an issue that needs to be addressed before this method is used further...
Hell yes! Let's keep innocent people out of jail!
I’ve done a 23 and me as well as an ancestry test. My best friend is a genetic genealogist and there were lots of questions about my family line because my grandfather was the product of a r*pe perpetrated by a plantation owner onto a slave. He was then given to a another family of slaves at the time to raise. He grew up as a share cropper under that same plantation owner who fathered him but for years we never knew who he was so I never knew his family. He was born in 1914 so a lot to trace back. My friend was able to figure it all out. She does incredible work. She connected me with family I never would have otherwise been connected with. If you ever want to look into doing it and want a professional to do it for you I’d be more than happy to facilitate for you. She has all her credentials and everything so you can get her as you see fit of course. Often time she takes cases for free because she just loves the field. All in all I say go for it. It’s not perfect. Someone who knows what they are doing should be able to thoroughly explain to you exactly what you are actually getting and cut through the company marketing BS but there’s much more you can do than just seeing where you’re from or whatever. You can connect with people, you can have health testing done, you can even break down the DNA you have and who exactly in your family line you got it from. Pretty cool stuff. But you really need to have someone who knows what they are doing to help you or it isn’t as worth it in my opinion. Also, if you go through a professional you don’t need to pay the subscription fee because it’s all done through their account and they already hold the annual subscription.
Also, if your siblings do it too you can figure out exactly which DNA you share and break down how it manifests within your physical traits etc and who you got it from. It’s pretty neat. But like I said, make sure you have someone who can fully explain the scope of what you are actually getting and if it is the right fit for the information you specifically want.
My mom, who was adopted in the 60's did one of these and discovered all her biological siblings! She has found 10 half siblings (along with the twin sister she was adopted with) and my dad has learned a lot about his family, as the records were lost. It is quite cool! But the story of my moms siblings could be a TV show, honestly its WILD
Thanks for the great video and insights into such a nuanced topic.
I’d highly recommend the Bear Brook podcast to anyone interested in forensic genealogy and/or cold cases, It’s a refreshingly respectful take on true crime reporting that details how forensic genealogy (at the time still in its infancy) was integral in identifying victims of cold cases and ultimately identifying a perpetrator. Despite highlighting the positive outcomes in this particular story, there’s lengthy discussion on how advanced and popularised it has become in such a short period, as well as the ethics and legality of its use.
I suspect more states will begin implementing similar laws to those you have discussed, especially as forensic genealogy continues to be associated with such high profile cases.
You are absolutely stunning with your educational kindness and beautiful self! Thank you for laying things out like this. You’re a lovely example ❤
I have done a couple of them. My child first did genesight testing. It was because we were struggling to find the right medication for them. Then, later, I did genesight testing because I was tired of doctors trying to put me on antidepressants even though they cause bad side effects for me. I learned every medication my child can't take. I too can't take. On the other hand they can take some I can't take. Then I did genopalet. I did this to try to find a better way to eat and curb the weight gain caused by medication. This test helped me to learn about what vitamins I most likely need higher doses in. One of my siblings did ancestry testing. They got some good information. I want to do the 23 and me version that tests genetic health markers. There are a lot of health conditions in my family and this test might help rule some things out or bring some to my attention. It just is expensive. Since my DNA is already in databases, why not add more places.
My sister and I just did ancestry for Christmas, my dad was big into our ancestry before he passed and we wanted to pick it back up together.
I am all ears for this video! 👁️👄👁️
I did an Ancestry test last year. I wouldn’t say there were any big surprises with it but it was interesting. My mom is adopted and I have siblings who given up for adoption and I wanted to know more about that. I feel it was worth it just for the novelty of that but people from more traditional families probably wouldn’t get much out of them.
I would love a video about your opinion on the handling of the recent Idaho murders.
I bought a 23 & Me test + membership on sale last Christmas. I don't know a lot about my extended family on either side and I was able to connect with a few relatives I've never met before who I may not have met otherwise. I was also very curious to see if I was a gene carrier for the couple of different genes associated with breast cancer and a few other things that they test for, since it's significantly cheaper than going to a doctor to test for those things individually. It's a cool experience and helpful to see what they come up with, but probably not worth handing over your DNA.
Hey Leeja! Could you do a video about the Alec Baldwin case. He is to Face Involuntary Manslaughter Charges in the 'Rust' Shooting Death of Halyna Hutchins and I wanted to know more about what that all means. 😊 Great video as always!
I second the request for a video on Alec Baldwin
To answer your question in the intro, I took an Ancestry DNA test along with one for my oldest sister & younger sister and I just had to pay $60 for each one (not all at once). My ethnicity is:
23% Nigerian
16% Scottish
14% from Cameroon, Congo, & Western Bantu
13% Mali
12% Ivory Coast & Ghana
11% Benin & Togo
3% Senegali
2% Native American (labeled "Indigenous Americas - North)
2% German
1% each of Southern Bantu, Native Mexican (labeled "Indigenous Americas - Mexico), Sweden & Denmark, and Welsh.
I think that there's always an inherent risk that law enforcement could abuse the DNA in a database, but I can say that if a family member committed a crime and my DNA could be used to solve a mystery for said crime or to prove my innocence I'll do what I gotta do to get or serve proper justice.
Honestly, I want to know everything I can about me and my family history because, on top of being a news junkie, I love having data at my disposal to back up anything I talk about.
I did ancestry, I love DNA and genealogy. My family loves learning new things about where we come from so I became the family genealogist.
No way. Your DNA is your ultimate identification. There needs to be a framework around the collection and use. Medical samples should be protected under HIPPA laws.
Incredibly interesting topic. Would love to hear updates as technology continues to evolve.
Well, I'm a veteran, my DNA is already on file. Part of being in the military is signing away your rights. So I figure I have nothing to lose by doing a DNA thing with Ancestry.
Other than also revealing genetic and health information of your immediate family too. Maybe ask if they want to know, and if they want you to know that kind of intimate information about them.
I have been going around in my head about this myself. I think that the police should be held to the same requirements as other personal data collection techniques, like listening in on phone conversations.
DNA Nightmare -
This really happened and omg. - I got a 23 and me kit for Mother’s Day about 5 years ago. My daughter said she’d show me hers after I got my results. I spit in the tube, sent it in and forgot it.
A while later, I got my results and at that time my daughter finally showed me her results. I have Scottish DNA. The problem with this is my mother is Welsh / Scandinavian and my Dad was German / Irish / indigenous American. My dad, who had been dead for 15 years at this point, was not my biological father.
I called my 85 year old mother and to ask her about the test and she busted out in tears.
My daughter held back her dna results because of the lack of indigenous American dna. My Dad was a registered member of an indigenous tribe. He was 1/4 indigenous blood. Anyway, my mom told me my biological father was her best friends ex husband. My mother confessed her and my dad were “swingers” in the early 1960’s.🤦🏻♀️ yikes
She said It never crossed her mind that I wasn’t my dads child …although I was the only red haired, green eyed child after she had already had 4 brown haired , Olive skinned, brown eyed children. I’m also the only girl. lol.
My mother is gone now but I let her know I loved her, no matter who my dna came from.
3:05 YES, WE WANT TO SEE THAT VIDEO
What about the concern that these databases can be used in the future by insurance companies to avoid/deny coverage?
I think we all need to accept that we have lost all privacy in this aspect. All it takes is ONE relative to post willingly with full consent, and they’ve got your whole family no matter what. More just makes it that much easier. That’s basically the reality.
Another thing to consider is that private companies like 23&me say that they wont release records to the police, but with private companies that could change at any time (I believe). So who knows if their policy will change, or even where that database will end up in say 30 years.
My brother got one done. I just want to believe we have the same data. Lol. It was interesting. I don't recall much about it, it's been a while. I don't think I'll ever do one though.
I'm torn about this too. I live in a European country that was occupied by the nazi's during WW2. My country used to be diligent about keeping records, but as a result, when the nazi's took control of the civil archives that registered births, weddings, deaths, housing, school attendance, etc., they could simply look up where Jewish people lived. In some cities, heroes put their own lives on the line to destroy tonnes of records, which potentially saved 1000's of people.
Those were physical documents that could be burned, but modern digitally stored data could potentially last forever.
So even if I trust my current government and privacy laws, what if one day I cannot trust the people in charge?
On the other hand, I do want to help solve crime. And over the last years, two child rape and murder cases here have been solved by DNA-genealogy research campaigns where people in a certain region were asked to voluntarily submit DNA.
It's a conundrum, but with the direction that international politics are taking these days, with fascism on the rise and the dismantling of women's rights. I don't feel safe to entrust every type of personal information to the future.
I did ancestry, we found out that not only were my mothers parents not born in Ireland as they had told my mom, neither were either of their parents.
We also found out my dad has an older half brother we didnt know about. Whoops
My mother in-law got me one for Christmas one year and then a couple weeks later, she told me not to use it because if I find out I'm Jewish, I'll get put on a list 🤦🏻♂️
I'm even more worried about DNA results being shared with insurance companies.
I like the fact that our genetic linkages and (dis)similarities are becoming more easily available. I guess I'm pretty close to the maximum DNA openness side of the continuum.
i did it...
lol, my genetic profile was of ZERO surprise; 99.9% Northern European, mostly Irish, Scottish and German...-traces of English and French...
i have no worry about my DNA having been collected...perhaps i'm not paranoid enough...?
i didn't pay a monthly thing, because the extra stuff didn't really interest me...
all said, i think that it was a waste of money, as i really didn't learn anything that i already didn't know...i could have taken my fiancé out for a nice beef boxty and berliner weisse, and been just as satisfied!
btw, love your work; you remind me of this one punk-rocker that i went to university...many moons ago...keep rockin'!
I absolutely hate these companies. I hate that a relative can provide access to my genetic information to the polices -- and to private companies -- without my consent. Right now, the most malevolent activity we're seeing is cops searching for relatives. We also see questionable research, racial coding, and inaccurate descriptions of how close people are as relatives. Happy families are torn apart by secrets from long ago about who's not blood related, and what does it matter?
But I'm more concerned about what happens when someone starts looking at my sister's data and sees she's got a propensity for some medical condition and now my health insurance goes up. Or her kids can't get treatment for a preexisting condition because she's got a condition that nobody's even heard of today.
Once we sell our data, it's never going away. Sure, the sites have certain terms of service today, and that doesn't help when that data is 1. hacked, 2. used for a "medical study" a la facebook, or 3. acquired by Amazon along with the rest of the company.
You might give consent to share your genetic data to a company that allows everyone and their brother to access it, but everyone related to you from now until the end of time has not.
I disagree because I absolutely hate secrets. Besides, this is the dawning of the information age. All will be revealed and secrets will cease to exist. It's inevitable, you might as well accept it.
Yes, my DNA is all over the internet, with multiple companies... because I'm a genetic genealogist 😉 Also, yes, FamilyTreeDNA does sell DNA kits. It's not the same as GEDmatch.
Yes, I am opted-in on GEDmatch.
Yes. I did it. I’m glad I did. It cleared up some mysteries and gave new info I found to be cool. Yup. Worth it
7:48 he was doing a report on that topic for a class. so that's why he was asking that kind of question. but i have no idea why he'd pick that subject to make a report on, since obviously he wasn't gonna get anyone confessing to their crimes for his paper??
(it was also alleged that this paper was the reason he killed the students but i don't remember where i heard that, and have no idea if that's been confirmed or disproven or anything)
I just clicked over from my Ancestry DNA updates to this video...no lie! I enjoy that one because of the family tree research it kick starts... and I don't mind of it helps find a long lost serial killer in my lineage lol
This is exactly the reason why I won’t do a 23 and me deal. I know where I came from and I don’t trust/like the government/state/police either. They are professionals and have other resources. The presumption of innocence is the cornerstone of our criminal justice system and I refuse to participate in anyway/shape/ or form