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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: 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.