The Controversy of DNA Testing

DNA testing has been more common than it has in the past recently. The most well known companies that allow consumers to buy DNA testing kits are 23andMe and AncestryDNA. The kit is relatively expensive, being $100 for just the DNA testing option or $150 for DNA Health and Ancestry. The appeal of buying a DNA kit is that it tests what ethnicity you may be. It goes into depth about where your ancestors were from and what specific regions you have traces of DNA from. Not only does it tell you about your ethnicity but it also tells you what groups you may be related to and any famous/infamous people that you may be related to. It also creates a map of all the different connections you may have with other people around the world. People that you didn't know were your cousins may show up on the map and you have the option of messaging them.
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The process of a DNA kit is simple. The company sends you the DNA kit or you can buy it in a store that sells them. The kit comes with a tube that you must fill with saliva. After that, you send the kit back to the company. Generally it takes around a month for them to process your data.

However, DNA testing also serves a more practical purpose. Recently, police have used DNA to track serial killers and solve crimes. One of the most significant case that they were able to solve was the Golden State Killer case. The police have used GEDmatch which allows customers to upload raw DNA information from testing companies. They cannot use 23andMe or AncestryDNA because they would need a clean saliva sample from the suspect to send into the companies. DNA testing has been under a large amount of scrutiny though. People feel like it is a violation of privacy for police to have access to people's DNA. However, I believe that if the data base is used productively and can help solve murder cases then that should be prioritized over privacy.

Comments

  1. NickJune 4, 2019 at 11:09 PM

    Personally, I don't believe it's unreasonable at all to let the police have access to everyone's DNA. It's not like they're going to clone us from our DNA, and that information really only serves to aid them in identifying the culprit in a crime. The only personal information they have is your genes, but unless I'm missing something this really doesn't affect any of us. No private information is lost because it tells them how our bodies are constructed, not what we are thinking or how we feel. While it wouldn't hurt either to let people check a box that says "I don't want the police to have access to my DNA," I don't think this is needed because it isn't going to have an affect on my personal life. So why the controversy in the first place?

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