Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

September 5, 2008 6:15:26 PM CDT

Learn about Newser Points »

« Back to the grid | Next story »

Genealogy Site Wants to Swab Your Cheek

Posted Oct 23, 07 12:38 PM CDT in Science & Health,  Technology 

(Newser) – Now even dead ancestors can join the social networking craze. Their descendants, today’s consumers, can submit cheek swabs to genetics company GeneTree, which compares the DNA to its database and creates an interactive digital family tree. Users can post videos, photos, and link up with other members of their tree, which also reflects geographic migrations over the centuries.

For privacy reasons, GeneTree says it won’t provide names to its members of anyone born in the last 100 years who might have a DNA link. Because the service relies on mitochondrial DNA, carried on the mother’s side, Scott Woodward, chief scientific officer of the company, said it allows them trace people’s families “to a woman back in the past who was the mother to us all." He didn’t name her.

Source ComputerWorld

0 comments | Print E-mail | Digg Seed this on Newsvine Add this link to Del.icio.us StumbleUpon
Screenshot from GeneTree   (GeneTree)
Old-fashioned genealogy research.   (KRT Photos)
GeneTree screenshot   (GeneTree)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
Our editors also recommend:

Tags

social networking  • genes  • DNA database  • genealogy  • gene pool  • user generated content


Loading...

Premium Articles from HighBeam

Find more articles like this

Today's Most Popular


Other Technology Stories

What is Newser?

2008 Codie Finalist

Newser gives you more news in less time. We search for the best and most important stories all over the web, read them for you, and deliver concise and sharp summaries—along with links to the full text. Newser provides a way to stay on top of an ever-expanding horizon of news and opinion—politics, sports, business, trends, technology, personalities, crimes, and controversies. Newser keeps you not just better informed, but, with our signature graphic interface and smart condensed format, more enjoyably informed.

Learn more »