Who owns your DNA?
Technically, you do... until it leaves your body. Every skin cell you leave behind on your chair, every drop of saliva that stays on your cigarette filter, every hair in your comb is free for the taking.
Keeping your cells to yourself is an exercise in futility, but the consolation prize is that you, too, can know what those cells have to say.
In 2006, the Human Genome Project mapped the last uncharted human chromosome, and a number of more specialized projects have begun in its wake, among them the National Genographic Project.
The Genographic Project aims to chart the migratory patterns of humans throughout civilization via DNA mutation analysis.
Over hundreds of generations, the DNA code changes slightly, by perhaps only one base pair on a single chromosome. This change gets passed down through subsequent generations, who later develop their own mutations, called markers.
So the youngest generations of a genetic line- those of us alive today- will have the most markers.
The Genographic Project checks for a certain number of these markers in specific places. For women, the project analyzes the mitochondrial DNA, which is maternally inherited; for men, the project analyzes the Y chromosome. In this way, they isolate a pure strain of DNA carried by every generation and changed only by its own mutation.
Members of the Genographic Project are able to examine the markers and provide a scientific look at an individual's genetic genealogy. Based on where the DNA samples are obtained and overlaps in data, as well as a number of other factors, the project follows mass migratory patterns of all human groups, beginning in northern Africa.
The results supplement other scientific theories of evolution and civilization, and combined with known history, they provide interesting insight into sociological behaviors.
Participation in the project costs $99.95 for individuals and $77 for students, and includes a buccal swab kit and DVD explaining the nature of the project. After analysis of a participant's DNA, the Genographic Project sends the participant an internet link to a summary of the results.
Terry Davin, who participated in the project, charted his lineage through Europe and into Africa, which he said is common for most Caucasian Americans. An African friend of his, also a participant in the study, tracked his paternal lineage directly across northern Africa.
The same friend also received an analysis of a different ancestor's DNA, an analysis which looked like a duplicate of Davin's results. Davin said that this was possible because the study only isolates one of many ancestors for each individual. As such, he warns that participating in the project should not be used as an alternative to traditional genealogical research.
The National Genographic Project, in addition to explaining its goals, also aims to address some of the ethical issues surrounding DNA research. After tissue analysis, a participant may request that the tissue be destroyed. Any information obtained will not be sold or given out without the participant's knowledge, and even then, the information is listed as being from an anonymous donor.
The participant can choose to withdraw from the information database at any time.
The project does not attempt to answer the question of who holds rights to the DNA as intellectual property in the event that a participant's DNA proves key to a profitable discovery, though that question has been the subject of much legal debate.
Davin suggests that the debate is a result of the growing concern among indigenous peoples and their nearly extinct bloodlines. For many, sharing DNA is a sacred act, not to be exploited.
Some countries, including China, require governmental permission to participate in any DNA-related study, including the National Genographic Project.
With sparse legal precedence, participation is at one's own risk.
To find out more about the National Genographic Project, visit https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html.
Copyright 2007 Metropolitan Community College