Ancestry Will Tell You Which Genetics Came From Which Parent

Ancestry has now grown a big enough genetic database to be able to tell their customers what side of their family they get different genes from. In an article from The Verge describing Ancestry's recent feature launch and research, it was explained that by using the genetic data collected from all of the users they could tell you where your genes come from. This is because it connects the genetic data of different family members that use its services and subsequently narrows down whether that gene came from your mom or dad based on that. It was also speculated that it is possible to use such information to identify possible health/genetic risks based on the information. Although it was admitted that Ancestry would not be doing that research as they no longer offer heath services.

Genetics to Help Find Missing Children

In Granada, Spain, Forensics geneticist, Dr. Jose A. Lorente, has a dream of using genetics to find lost, stolen or kidnapped kids and to reunite them with there families. The idea that Dr. Lorente expressed is a network of data banks, used nationally, which store parents DNA who lost children. At any point in time when a child is found, they can be matched with their parents and return to them. He also has hopes that the databanks will play a key role in prevention of these types of trafficking rings and the adoptions of stolen children. He set up a foundation in 2004 called DNA- Prokids, which gives out free DNA tests and collection kits which can continue building these extensive data bases. The results are even more satisfying in which 550 families have been reunited thus far and the program has stopped 200 illegal adoptions.

I believe this is an awesome data base and should be continued to operate. I think with the data base growing and more people becoming aware, it will become successful in reuniting more families. Eventually, it will also be able to prevent many more crimes from occurring and ruining many innocent children and families.

A DNA Site Helped Authorities Crack the Golden State Killer Case

With the help of genetic data from databases, police were able to arrest a man suspected to be the notorious Golden State Killer. It was through the GEDmatch genetic database, which has a lot of unknown genetic information listed within it. Unlike big companies like 23andMe which has more than 5 million users, GEDmatch has between 900,000 and a million users, and those users upload and share their information for free. This makes it easy for law enforcement to use it to collect data. In this particular case, investigators used genetic databases in order to find relatives who matched genetic material taken from an old crime scene, and they went on to cross-reference family data from GEDmatch and were able to find the suspect, Joseph James DeAngelo. This case has brought the issue of genetic privacy to light, especially nowadays where genetic testing is becoming more popular and extensive. People will get there DNA tested to know of their ancestry and family history of health, but a lot of them don't consider what happens to their data after that.

Most of the big companies resist all law enforcement inquiries to protect customer privacy, but they do warn customers that there is a possibility of it. 23andMe has stated to never have given customer information to law enforcement. Although, many companies do give users control on where their data goes, whether they want to share it for research, with third parties, or with other consumers. However, databases like GEDmatch, which are open for everyone, don't have the same precautions to privacy. Although, they do inform their users that the data can be used by others for anything.

Users should always be cautious when using sites like these, even the ones who claim privacy.
Customers should be critical when reading privacy policies and understand how genetic data can be shared with third parties, especially when it's an open-source database. There is a lot of potential for abuse of genetic material exists, so it's important to be cautious about putting your genetic data onto the internet.

Article: http://time.com/5257474/golden-state-killer-genetic-privacy-concerns/

Recent developments in microorganism studies has suggested that the genetic codes flexibility may be greater than previously thought. A new study by researchers from the U.S Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) and Yale University has discovered that the codon for the amino acid selenocysteine is not coherent across all organisms. Scientists found that in some microorganisms, the three-letter codon UGA signals for the translation of the amino acid selenocysteine. This is of major significance because UGA is among three codons that normally signal the termination of protein construction.

Starting from the four innermost letters and working to the outermost ring, this table shows shows which three-letter base sequence or codon encodes which amino acid. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, public domain image


Researchers scanned approximately 6.4 trillion bases of metagenomic sequence and 25,000 microbial genomes in the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the DOE JGI's Integrated Microbial Genomes data management system. Based on two 2014 publications in the journal Science, they expected to find variations in microorganisms genetic vocabulary within nature. The team discovered several species that identify stop codons UGA, UAG and UAA, as well as ten sense codons, that are variants for selenocysteine.

This finding is of major significance because it is opening geneticist's minds to the possibility of a greater network of genetic schemes. While our knowledge of genetics has grown tremendously over the past couple of decades, there remains an abundance of questions unanswered about the intricacies between reading the genetic code and applying it. The genetic variation in microorganisms is far greater than in animal species and the further study of these microorganisms may prove useful to fill in the missing gaps of our current genetic knowledge.

Can genetic testing be anonymous?

A recent article in the New York Times discusses whether or not genetic testing can be anonymous. 23andMe has made a $60 million deal with the bioresearch company Genetech that gave Genetech access to the database of their genetic information, as well as 13 deals with other partners. Genetic information is useful in predicting the effects of genetic diseases, but things like environment, stress, exercise and diet also can affect the outcome. Having a large database of genetic information causes problems with some due to the fact that they are targets of genetic identity theft and allows for invasion of privacy. The article continues on with why having such a database and giving access to it would be a bad idea: in 2013, one researcher tracked down five people that were randomly selected from a database using only DNA, their age, and the state in which they lived, and then continued on to track down a number of their relatives. This shows that it isn't difficult to invade someones privacy and surpass anonymity with just DNA. It also stated that scientists in Israel showed that the DNA from the database, even though anonymous, could be used to manipulate crime scenes and corrupt evidence. 

23andMe has stated in an earlier version of the article that finding a customer's identity with little genetic information isn't possible, but having databases such as these could still be dangerous. They claim on their website that multiple levels of encryption and security protocols protecting personal information, but we all know that anything accessible on the internet isn't always safe. I feel like it's a cool idea to be able to find out any information that your DNA can tell you, but also to just be careful where and how you get the information.