General Chat

I have this feeling that in a few years time everyones geneology will be available just by submitting a DNA sample. But we need to accept that our DNA profiles have to be registered. I also think that with the right computing skills a very extensive geneological tree could be started right now. Any budding computer whiz kids out there? best regards Dave

i have always thought that a record of our DNA profile should be kept in a central file somewhere....which could be accsessed for police use and perhaps for geneology use also. I mentioned this to my midwife when i had my third child.....through a pethadine induced haze........she was concerned that the main problem would be a paternity issue.....She estimated that 30% of babies born in this country dont have the fathers they think they have. Would taking DNA samples from all new born babies and making the results available cause the number of divorces to go up??And in turn cause more children to be living in one parent families. My personal view is that women would think twice about playing away from home if they knew there was an easy way for thier partners to find out if a child was there biological offspring. would there also be problems with people being able to obtain insurance if they are found at birth to have a genetic condition that will cause ill health in the future. many things to consider before we all rush onto the DNA gravy train. interesting thought though christine

Yes, I think there is a can of worms here but I have a gut feeling that it will be forced upon us. Possibly because scientists can't resist the temptation to experiment and as soon as people know that there is a possibility that they are the result of a genetic union they will want to know who their parents were. Exactly like some of the test tube babies of the past do now. Even people who suspect that they might be genetically spawned will want to know for definate. I am an adoptee and I have first hand knowledge of what it is like to live without a past. Fortunately I have just made contact and recieved the information that I needed from my birth mother and I am 57 years old. best regards Dave

nudge

Don't want to pour cold water on all this but as I understand it DNA tests are not as accurate the companies who sell these tests would have us believe. Tests for self/self and parentage are accurate but less so the farther we go. Would we want it anyway? We have enough problems with illigitimate births. Would we want to find out that our Grandparents (or even our Parents) were not really ours. (This must be true is in many cases.) Bob

As Robert surmises, it is not so accurate and only mitochondrial DNA in females can be traced back. That in men can only be matched against relatives. Adam, in fact was an Eve who probably lived in Kenya. It would be much more sensible if family trees were based on the female line. Unfortunately, male muscle and aggression gained the ascendancy somewhere along the line. Len