IN THE SUMMER OF 2019, Donna Johnson spotted a special offer: 23and Me kits were half price. She and her husband, Vanner, had been thinking of getting their DNA tested to learn about their heritage and any health issues that might be related to their genes. Given the deal, Vanner thought they should buy four kits and test their sons as well as themselves. "A fun family activity. That's how we coined it to our boys," Vanner says.
Vanner Jr and Tim - then 14 and nearly 11 - were happy to indulge their parents. They had an idea what DNA was, Vanner says, but didn't ask many questions. The logistics proved unexpectedly challenging: you're not supposed to consume anything for half an hour before you produce your saliva sample, and finding a time when neither boy had eaten or drunk wasn't easy. But within a week of receiving the kits the four of them were standing around the kitchen table together at their home north of Salt Lake City, Utah, spitting into little plastic tubes. They registered their kits online, sent off their samples, then they got on with their summer.
It's no longer remarkable to hand over your DNA to a multimillion-dollar corporation and trust it to use it to decode who you really are. The Johnsons are one family among tens of millions worldwide who have used a direct-to-consumer genetic testing company such as AncestryDNA, MyHeritage or 23andMe. Their tests promise to unlock the truth of our heredity and how we're connected to the world - even a medical future foretold in our genes, if we tick the appropriate box. DNA kits have become popular gifts, the go-to Christmas present for the person who has everything. At least one in 20 British people have been intrigued enough to take a test. As AncestryDNA has said, "There's no limit to what you might discover."
この記事は The Guardian Weekly の September 15, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Guardian Weekly の September 15, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
If kids get protected from online harm, how about the rest of us?
The Australian government has proposed a ban on social media for all citizens under 16.
'It's not drought - it's looting'
Spain is increasingly either parched or flooded - and one group is profiting from these extremes: the thirsty multinational companies forcing angry citizens to pay for water in bottles.
Life in the grey Zone
Neonatal care has advanced so far that babies born as early as 21 weeks have survived. But is this type of care always the right thing to do?
Out of tune? Band Aid under fire for Africa tropes as it turns 40
Forty years ago this month, a group of pop stars gathered at a west London studio to record a single that would raise millions, inspire further starry projects, and ultimately change charity fundraising in the UK.
Deaths shine spotlight on risks of drinking on party trail
Vang Vieng is an unlikely party hub. Surrounded by striking limestone mountains and caves in central Laos, it morphed from a small farming town to a hedonistic tourist destination in the early 2000s.
Different strokes My strange and emotional week with an AI pet
Moflin can develop a personality and build a rapport with its owner - and doesn't need food or exercise. But is it comforting or alienating?
Strike zone Waking up to the rising threat of lightning
When the Barbados National Archives, home to one of the world's most significant collections of documents from the transatlantic slave trade, reported in June that it had been struck by lightning, it received sympathy and offers of support locally and internationally.
Cheap pints and sticky carpets: the old-school pub is back
In the Palm Tree pub, east London, barman Alf is taking only cash at the rattling 1960s till.
Brain gain Can a radical tax scheme convince the country's brightest to stay?
In the autumn of 2018, I moved to Lisbon for a month-long course at the Universidade .de Lisboa.
Fear and sympathy in small town divided over asylum camp
A year after anti-immigration riots, a site for asylum seekers faces hostility while some locals try to help new arrivals
