TalkSeeking Ancestry Through DNA
The advent and increasing popularity of ancestry testing raises complicated issues about how we conceive of ethnicity, and what it means to claim it — Is ethnicity genetic? Is it cultural? Is it how you see yourself, or how the world sees you?
Today’s New York Times (“Seeking Ancestry in DNA Ties Uncovered by Tests”) discusses how people are using, and wrestling with, the increasing popularity of this testing. (Disclosure: our company, DNA Direct, does not do ancestry testing. We stick to tests with health/medical applications).
Like the expression of genes themselves, our understanding of “race” and “ethnicity” is dynamic: It will continue to evolve, it will be complex, it will be individual, and it will be influenced by many environmental, personal, and genetic forces.
Technorati Tags: ancestry, DNA testing, genes, genetics, ethnicity
April 12th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
Having participated in the Genographic Project, I can affirm that the resulting understanding leaves one in a rather perplexing position in re: race, etc. Seeing those out-of-Africa maps makes one realize the extent to which “race” in an entirely socially created construct. We are actually a very small family indeed…
April 14th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
Indeed we are! My family has had a wonderful time learning about their ancient forefathers and -mothers through the Genographic Project. One (of the many) cool things about this ambitious project is that anyone can participate and everyone benefits. The more people participate, the more we will know.
The Genographic Project: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/