Consuming genetics: ethical and legal considerations of new technologies - videos online

The Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School recently held their annual conference which was devoted to the subject  of “Consuming genetics: ethical and legal considerations of new technologies”. They very kindly recorded all the talks and have made them available online. You can access them from this link:

https://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/events/details/2019-petrie-flom-center-annual-conference

I've only had time to watch a few of the talks so far but so far they are all of very good quality. I highly recommend that you take time to watch the very moving talk from Kif Augustine-Adams on "Generational failures of law and ethics: rape, Mormon orthodoxy, and the revelatory power of Ancestry DNA". It is a first-hand account of the disruptive power of genetic ancestry testing and the effects on families when long-held secrets are uncovered and promises of anonymity are breached.

It's also worth watching Liza Vertinsky's talk on "Genetic paparazzi vs. genetic privacy". In the UK DNA theft is illegal thanks to the Human Tissue Act passed in 2004. If you test someone's DNA without their consent you could potentially be put in prison. In the US no such laws yet exist and it is possible to test so-called "abandoned DNA" from discarded items without the individual's consent. I suspect it's only a matter of time before a celebrity's privacy is breached by testing their DNA without consent which is likely to cause a big backlash and encourage the introduction of new legislation.

I also recommend watching Natalie Ram's session on "Genetic genealogy and the problem of familial forensic identification" which is very topical in light of the current debates about law enforcement usage of genetic genealogy databases. Natalie highlights the inter-relatedness of DNA which means that informed consent becomes a non-issue. Even if you don't want to upload your DNA to GEDmatch, if your sister exercises her right to share her DNA you could still be caught up in a criminal investigation and have your family tree and your social media accounts trawled by the police.

Genetic Genealogy Education

At the end of October this year I had the great pleasure of attending the Genetic Genealogy Ireland conference in Dublin. I am pleased to report that the recordings of all the DNA lectures are now available free of charge online on the Genetic Genealogy Ireland YouTube channel. There are just a couple of lectures which could not be recorded, generally because the speaker was presenting unpublished results. If you attended the conference and weren't able to attend all the lectures now is your chance to catch up. If you didn't attend you are in for a real treat. If you only have time to watch one presentation I highly recommend Diahan Southard's very moving presentation on The Marriage of Genetics and Genealogy. This was the story of her mother's search for her biological parents.

I gave a presentation on The Future of Autosomal DNA. I'd love to know what you think about my vision for the future. Do you think my predictions will come true?

The same weekend that Genetic Genealogy Ireland was on in Dublin there was also a big DNA event in America with the second Institute of Genetic Genealogy held in San Diego. The lectures from this conference are also available online. These talks were recorded professionally with both sound and video. They are available online for a small fee from the i4GG website. You can either pay for each individual lecture or purchase the whole set of 19 videos for just $99.

I've not yet had time to watch all the presentations and I shall look forward to catching up when I have a bit more time after Christmas. Of the lectures I've seen so far I particularly enjoyed Leah Larkin's talk When Your Tree Is a Banyan: Coping with Endogamy in Genetic Genealogy. She provided a fascinating insight into the problems of interpreting autosomal DNA results in a highly endogamous population. She has some ancestors from whom she has an astonishing 10 or 11 different lines of descent!

With so many talks available online there will be something to learn for everyone whether you are a beginner or an advanced genetic genealogist.