DNA banking and analysis

​A major use of DNA today is identification. Is this my body lying on the floor dead or is it someone else?

A related use is ancestor analysis: who is related to whom and how closely?  See Ancestry.com, Family Tree DNA.com, 23andMe.com and the Genographic Project in the National Geographic Society.  Also, the book by Christine Kenneally "The Invisible History of te Human Race" Also the books "Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project" by Spencer Wells and "The Seven Daughters of Eve" by Bryan Sykes.

A third use is medical.  Sometimes, physicians and specialists can tell you about a genetic factor in a disease or disability.  For instance, I read quite a while ago, probably in "Genome: The biography of a species in 23 chapters" (1999) by Matt Ridley that the disease called Huntington's results in an early death.  The disorder relates to having multiple copies of a gene, which interfere with proper nerve impulse transmission.  Similarly, the book "Smarter" by Dan Hurley explains research research breakthroughs with Down syndrome, both in identifying a fetus with the problem and in helping people who are born with the problem, which is related to having a faulty gene situation.

I listened to a presentation by a representative of Prevention Genetics, a DNA firm in Marshfield, Wisconsin.  They will accept blood drawn by your physician and assist with making an appointment with your blood draw staff to obtain a sample.  There are several firms who will do that for various prices.  Our speaker mentioned the Prevention Genetics price of about $100 for an individual with some discount for multiple people, as from a family.  We sent small toothbrushes to the National Geographic Society's Genographic Project.  The current cost is $149 for a limited time.  Their analysis is strictly deep ancestor and will not return information about disease.

There are multiple types of analysis and multiple prices.  Research is seems to be moving quickly in the large field.  If you are interested in some aspects of DNA and its use, you should probably check Google, Bing and/or Duckduckgo at least every few months to see the latest.

The book mentioned above by Christine Kenneally mentions Plato and many others in the last two thousand years who have gotten the idea of controlled breeding among humans.  She gives strong evidence that the idea and related practices have often lead to trouble: murder, mistreatment and genocide. Proceed with caution.

​

--

Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety

Twitter: @olderkirby