Genetics, Genealogy and Ethics

Tonight's episode of NCIS "Enemy on the Hill" raises some of the ethical questions that are beginning to become more common as adoptees increasingly use DNA testing to find their biological families. The interpretation that a complete mitochondrial match means that the criminalist in the NCIS lab, Abby Sciuto, had discovered a sibling may not be exactly correct. However, some to the emotional issues that were raised are very real.


In the show Abby discovered the match accidentally when she volunteered to donate a kidney. At the end of this week's episode, Abby has reached the conclusion that she is adopted and is struggling with the question as to why her parents had not told her she was not their biological child. She has yet to tell her newly discovered DNA match that she thinks she is his sibling even though she did visit the pet shop where he worked and had a conversation with him. I don't know if this theme will be continued in a future episode.


It is issues like this one that will be part of a chapter on ethical issues raised in DNA testing. This will be a book on genetic genealogy that I will be co-authoring with CeCe Moore who blogs as Your Genetic Genealogist. Our book should be out in 2012.


You can view the episode online and see Abby's quandary.

New Overview of DNA Testing from Richard Hill

Richard Hill has published a short, 12 page, guide about how to add DNA testing to your genealogical research tool kit. You can download it free from his website:

Dick has developed a great site, DNA Testing Adviser. This site provides rich and authoritative information about DNA testing and adoption searches--the twin passions of Dick's life. His own quest to find his biological parents, using DNA testing and traditional search tools, was documented on the first page of the Wall Street Journal.