Limits and ethics in DNA and studies of the past
DNA analysis has been very helpful to archaeology, and is now widely available from a number of providers as a relatively affordable test. The companies all select and measure data in different ways.
This has led to a great deal of confusion, for example, in how maps of haplogroup types are drawn.
Two maps of the same haplogroup are compared below.
This has led to a great deal of confusion, for example, in how maps of haplogroup types are drawn.
Two maps of the same haplogroup are compared below.
You might notice similarities and differences between the two. This is simply based on where the program that drew each map has been told to select data divisions. In addition, knowledge changes over time, so be sure the map you are looking at was recently produced.
Also please look at who has produced the information, or the map, you're studying. One of the maps above has been created by a frankly self-styled expert whose actually academic credentials are not apparent. The other has been drawn up by a group of researchers and published with full citation of sources, methods and peer reviews. I'll let you figure which is which (check the links the images lead to).
Finally, 'the map is not the territory'. Even the most informed scientist can draw maps that prove to be just plain wrong. They should be treated as a visual guide that engages you to think more - not a definition of reality.
Also please look at who has produced the information, or the map, you're studying. One of the maps above has been created by a frankly self-styled expert whose actually academic credentials are not apparent. The other has been drawn up by a group of researchers and published with full citation of sources, methods and peer reviews. I'll let you figure which is which (check the links the images lead to).
Finally, 'the map is not the territory'. Even the most informed scientist can draw maps that prove to be just plain wrong. They should be treated as a visual guide that engages you to think more - not a definition of reality.
My Viking ancestors
One well-known company was pleased to tell me I have a lot of 'Scandinavian DNA' and included many cut-and-pasted paragraphs about the Vikings, plus a nice coloured picture of a Viking longboat. Hurray, I am largely Erik the Red!
Except.....
Pinning DNA haplogroups to historic events is dangerous territory.
Vikings were part-time seasonal robbers, not an ethnic group.
My 'Scandinavian DNA' may have entered that geographical zone at any time in the last 13,000 years, and it may be the DNA of a far older, more south- easterly group who re-populated the area after the ice retreat.
It may have entered my family tree via a friendly merchant seaman round Salford Docks in the early 20th century.
You can pay thousands of pounds and get a detailed forensic genetic family tree, with commentary, and it can still be subject to change as new knowledge emerges. Enjoy your DNA history but don't hang too much expectation on it!
Except.....
Pinning DNA haplogroups to historic events is dangerous territory.
Vikings were part-time seasonal robbers, not an ethnic group.
My 'Scandinavian DNA' may have entered that geographical zone at any time in the last 13,000 years, and it may be the DNA of a far older, more south- easterly group who re-populated the area after the ice retreat.
It may have entered my family tree via a friendly merchant seaman round Salford Docks in the early 20th century.
You can pay thousands of pounds and get a detailed forensic genetic family tree, with commentary, and it can still be subject to change as new knowledge emerges. Enjoy your DNA history but don't hang too much expectation on it!
Commercial, legal and medical ethics
The big questions are:
- what will a company do with my DNA once it has given me my ancestry
- what use will law enforcement make of my DNA
- what use will governments make of my DNA
One DNA ancestor-seeking company has recently made a mega-deal with GlaxoSmithKline and all their DNA samples will be made available to them. This is in the US. Grey area #1....many of the spit-kit samples collected in the UK are processed in the US and appear, if you scrutinise the small print, to be therefore subject to local US law. Well they don't put that in big letters on the adverts, eh? More information in this article
In the US, local police forces are now using cheap and cheerful 'instant DNA kits' to catch villains, much in the way that finger-printing was once the lead tech.....once you're in the system, you can be found elsewhere. Great! the rotter who spits on an old lady's car and menaces her can be tracked and traced.....
But maybe the same old lady objects vociferously at a council planning meeting, and is asked to leave. She maybe has a little weep on the way out and drops her kleenex into the waste-bin. That can be collected forensically. Her DNA might be logged on a police system as a violent dissident.
You get the picture. 'Quis custodiat ipsos custodes' - who is guarding the actual guardians?
We have been lucky in the UK to have had relatively benign, balanced and democratic government for a long time. I would not like to think of the reach of an unfriendly dictatorship that had mass access to population DNA.
But maybe the same old lady objects vociferously at a council planning meeting, and is asked to leave. She maybe has a little weep on the way out and drops her kleenex into the waste-bin. That can be collected forensically. Her DNA might be logged on a police system as a violent dissident.
You get the picture. 'Quis custodiat ipsos custodes' - who is guarding the actual guardians?
We have been lucky in the UK to have had relatively benign, balanced and democratic government for a long time. I would not like to think of the reach of an unfriendly dictatorship that had mass access to population DNA.
Paranoia - or are they really out to get me?
Warnings about DNA 'libraries' appear in the UK to be led by Genewatch. You may find this in itself problematical, as Genewatch is closely aligned with the green movement, which is also closely allied to radical activism.
It's worth looking at the Genewatch article on the DNA profiles, and DNA samples, held by UK police - it is a few years old, so the situation may have got better, or worse... Genewatch article
It's worth looking at the Genewatch article on the DNA profiles, and DNA samples, held by UK police - it is a few years old, so the situation may have got better, or worse... Genewatch article
But don't have nightmares, and when it all gets too much stick with the archaeology.....