Let’s say you’re the type who guards your e-mail address as though it were the recipe for Coca-Cola and you’re ready to take up arms at the mere mention of a national identification card.
Chances are you are not part of the target market for a DNA service being announced today by the family history Web site Ancestry.com.
And you’d better keep in mind that you can’t choose your family, some members of which may not share your privacy preferences.
From the Associated Press:
For less than $200 and a cheek-swiped cotton swab, amateur historians will soon be able to add DNA results to family tree Web sites.
The rapidly growing field of online genealogical searches is expanding to genetic testing, courtesy of a new partnership between the Internet’s largest family history Web site, Ancestry.com, and Sorenson Genomics, a privately held DNA research firm.
Details are supposed to be released later today, and while I personally find the idea fascinating, it won’t surprise me if the service sparks a family squabble or two.
“DNA research becomes more meaningful to people searching for relatives as more people’s DNA results become part of the database,” said Doug Fogg, chief operating officer of Sorenson Genomics.
Meaningful can mean different things to different people, of course.
