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| The DNA Double Helix |
Curiosity can be a dangerous thing. Especially when it may give unsettling answers. Here is what happened when I ventured into the new science of genetics.
Shortly after I retired in 2011, I found myself a patient at
Suburban Hospital in Bethesda recovering from a minor medical episode. A
representative of NIH visited me and asked if I would like to participate in a
DNA study called
Clinseq. The goal is to identify genetic markers
linked to particular diseases and conditions. I was excited to learn I could contribute to medical research in this way. All I had to do was provide a blood
sample and fill out detailed questionnaires about my own and my family’s
medical history. I receive regular updates, first informing me that my DNA had
been sequenced, and then letting me know about any identified markers found. The
study is also concerned with how people react to receiving genetic medical
information. Does this knowledge empower or cause anxiety? So after each
revelation I answer an online questionnaire about my reactions. Thankfully, nothing alarming has turned up so far.
More recently I decided to have my DNA tested by
Ancestry.com. Yes, I finally succumbed to those ubiquitous ads with the guy
wearing lederhosen who finds out he should really be wearing a kilt. Am I
really half Irish and half Flemish as I supposed, or were the family rumors, on
both sides, that we had Spanish blood, true? The rumors turned out to be false, but I
was completely shocked to find out that the greatest proportion of my DNA is
from England, where I grew up, even though I am the first generation born there.
How can this be? So far, I have learned that Dutch and Flemish DNA is very like that of south-east England, reflecting the history of close relations
between the countries, and is therefore often mistaken for English. On the
positive side, the test did accurately pinpoint the precise area of Ireland my
ancestors are from. Disappointingly, unlike many Irish, I am not the product of
a long-ago Viking raid.
Both these personal journeys into the science of DNA would
have been completely unimaginable just a few decades ago. The discovery of the
structure of DNA in 1953 and then the sequencing of the human genome completed in
2003 have revolutionized medicine, the study of human history, and the personal
search for family roots.
These resources explain the science of the discoveries and their medical applications:
The classic account of Watson and Francis
Crick’s scientific breakthrough. The book omits, however, any mention of
Rosalind Franklin’s contribution to the discovery. As a woman scientist, her
work was devalued at the time and she did not share in the 1962 Nobel Prize
awarded to the men.
This biography gives Franklin her rightful
place in science history.
The
most complete resource about the Human Genome Project is on the NIH website. The National Human Genome Research Institute
led the American contribution to this international project. Here you can find
an interactive timeline of human genome research and a wealth of information for
understanding the science of genetics, its uses, and implications for the
future.
An introduction to the cutting
edge of medicine and the ethical dilemmas it poses.
Several
recent books cover new discoveries in human evolution and prehistory:
A good overview of how DNA has changed our understanding of
the origins of modern humans.
How geneticists “have blown the lid off what we thought we
knew” about 100,000 years of human history, including how humans settled North
America.
An account of the National Geographic Project, the study of
the largest collection of DNA samples in the world, and what it tells us about
the human family.
The Swedish journalist’s quest for her own family roots,
tracing her mitochondrial DNA, passed on through the female line, back to the
earliest humans in Europe before the Ice Age.
The Neanderthal genome was sequenced in 2009, leading to one
of the more startling discoveries of genetic history. Humans and Neanderthals
interbred and many modern humans carry Neanderthal genes in their DNA.
Finally, there is a wonderful fictional imagining of the time
when Neanderthals and early humans shared the earth.
The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron is in the tradition of Jean
Auel’s
Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth's Children) series.
Beautifully written and emotionally powerful, it is the story of a young
pregnant Neanderthal at the time that her people are disappearing.
My own foray into personal genetic research still leaves me
with many unanswered questions. I shared my results with my cousins in Belgium
to see what they thought about possibly being part English. I heard back from
one of the younger generation. He told me he is currently spending a year as a visiting
researcher at the University of York in England. His field?
Archaeogenetics. He
sent me rather an intimidating reading list of scholarly books and articles.
Rita T.
Labels: Books, History, Research
More recently I decided to have my DNA tested by Ancestry.com. Yes, I finally succumbed to those ubiquitous ads with the guy
wearing lederhosen who finds out he should really be wearing a kilt. Am I
really half Irish and half Flemish as I supposed, or were the family rumors, on
both sides, that we had Spanish blood, true? The rumors turned out to be false, but I
was completely shocked to find out that the greatest proportion of my DNA is
from England, where I grew up, even though I am the first generation born there.
How can this be? So far, I have learned that Dutch and Flemish DNA is very like that of south-east England, reflecting the history of close relations
between the countries, and is therefore often mistaken for English. On the
positive side, the test did accurately pinpoint the precise area of Ireland my
ancestors are from. Disappointingly, unlike many Irish, I am not the product of
a long-ago Viking raid.
Finally, there is a wonderful fictional imagining of the time
when Neanderthals and early humans shared the earth. The Last Neanderthal by Claire Cameron is in the tradition of Jean
Auel’s Clan of the Cave Bear (Earth's Children) series.
Beautifully written and emotionally powerful, it is the story of a young
pregnant Neanderthal at the time that her people are disappearing.
