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There are many reasons to avoid the plethora of direct-to-consumer DNA tests on the market these days. Recent data suggests that many may produce alarming false positives for disease risks, while others that claim to predict things like athletic abilities and wine preferences are simply dubious. Another, perhaps less-common concern is that an at-home genetic analysis may unveil completely unexpected, deeply disturbing information that you just can’t prepare for.
That was the case for Washington state’s Kelli Rowlette (née Fowler), who took a DNA test with the popular site Ancestry.com back in July 2017.
Rowlette was likely expecting to discover new details about her distant ancestors, but she instead learned that her DNA sample matched that of a doctor in Idaho. The Ancestry.com analysis predicted a “parent-child” relationship. Befuddled and in disbelief, Rowlette relayed the findings to her parents, Sally Ashby and Howard Fowler. According to a lawsuit the family filed in the US District Court of Idaho, she told her parents she was disappointed that the results were so unreliable.
But little did she know that her parents—who previously lived in Idaho—had trouble conceiving her and, in 1980, underwent an unusual fertility procedure with a doctor near their Idaho Falls home. The name of that doctor was Gerald E. Mortimer—who happened to have a DNA sample with Ancestry.com that matched Rowlette’s.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by FatPhil on Friday April 06 2018, @05:54AM (4 children)
Is this some kind of homeopathy (without the repeated dilution)? Will the low-motility sperm be influenced - get all psyched up - by the presence of the higher motility sperm, and even remember that boost as they barge up the uterus? My personal conclusion would be that the less fit sperm has an even lower chance of winning the race when fit sperm is introduced into the mix.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 06 2018, @07:30AM (2 children)
Probably a psychological trick for the father. "There's a chance the child is biologically mine", to try and preempt feelings of jealousy, and psychological barriers between father and child. He can't yell in anger "you're not really my child anyway", at best he can pull a "there's an 85+% chance you're not really my child", which somehow loses the punch.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday April 06 2018, @02:50PM (1 child)
A coin is tossed, but not revealed - what's the probability that it's heads? Half? Nope, it's either one or zero, depending on whether it's heads up or not! This argument tends to get lots of people's knickers in a twist, which is good, as it's deliberately paradoxical.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Saturday April 07 2018, @03:56AM
You screwed up your analogy there. The probability is half, until it is measured, then the wave function collapses. Yes, even thought the coin has already been flipped and "technically" isn't oscillating on the table.
This is literally the entire point of the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Friday April 06 2018, @02:33PM
More than just genetic code in the ... zip file or whatever analogy. In 1980 its pretty ridiculous as a technique but In 15000 BC if one guy had weird pH or something then playing dilution games might ironically increase the odds of the guy having his genetic material reproduce (say the pH is so high there's a 100% chance of infertility if only he squirts in there, but multiple guys would "fix" the pH, now resulting in lowered the odds of infertility, even if there's 80% chance or whatever its the other dude's kid, 20% is much higher than 0%). In 15000 BC its orgy time but you'd think in 1980 there would be some kind of pharmacy bottle with pH buffers and nutrients and whatnot rather than mixing with his own stuff.