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Since the first human genome sequence was published, thousands of people have submitted their DNA for scientific analysis. They made these donations anonymously—or so they thought. Now, using publicly available information, researchers found they could figure out the identities of 50 individuals who had loaned their genes to science. Their results, although not the names of the people, are in the journal Science. [Melissa Gymrek et al., Identifying Personal Genomes by Surname Inference]
Biomedical research depends on the participation of human subjects, and issues of privacy have always been a concern. When scientists share genomic data, they first strip away identifying information, like the individual’s name and date of birth. But is that really enough?
Researchers looked at a specific set of markers in genomes whose sequences were in a public database. And they found that by matching up these markers with sequences that people had submitted to genealogy web sites, they could identify some of the genome donors’ relatives and, with a bit more sleuthing, come up with their actual names.
Of course, many people now post online accounts of what’s on their minds or even on their menus. But even those who are relatively relaxed about their privacy might think twice about their genomes going public.
—Karen Hopkin
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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Add CommentI am an expert in DNA from Wales and have a very common surname --- 'JONES' --- but a very rare Y-DNA Haplogroup --- 'R-L371'
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe R-L371 group's purpose is to advance understanding of this Y-DNA Terminal R1b SNP found in Welsh male descendants of this putative 'Ancient British' Hg.
This R1b Y-SNP is also known as: R1b1a2a1a1b3a8; R1b-L371; L371; S300; Y-Position 17165864 (NCBI36); R-17-14-10. The mutation was T>G. R-L371 surnames include: Thomas, Griffith, Jones, Jenkins, Evans, Pugh, etc.
R-L371 had a genesis in NW Wales 1000 years ago and is found now in male descendants living in Wales, England, USA, Australia, Canada, Ireland. R-L371 males descend from upstream / older "R1b" Haplogroups (YBP Years Before Present):
R-M269 / S3 / R1b1a2 4800 YBP France / Iberian Arrival
R-L11 / S127 4500 YBP Wales Arrival
R-P312 / S116 3700 YBP
R-L21 / S145 3600 YBP
R-DF13 / S521 3400 YBP
R-L371 / S300 1000 YBP
R1b men likely came into Wales from a France / Iberian Celtic region. Only about .1% (1 in 1,000) of Y-DNA tested men in the U.S. are R-L371. In certain NW Wales areas, this percentage could rise to about 1% (10 in 1,000).
The R-L371 "Adam" was likely born in geographically isolated Northwest Wales (perhaps Meirionnydd in Gwynedd county or Anglesey county). This area of NW Wales is also a Welsh homeland for the Griffith and Jones clans.
R-L371 men have a 3 part and rare Y-STR Signature: DYS448=17; DYS456=14; DYS450=10. A "17" at DYS448 is an 'Ancient' indicator.
Take a $140 National Geographic Geno 2.0 DNA test for Y-DNA (incl R-L371), mt-DNA, Autosomal DNA, etc.
If you are R-L371+, please email jonesge (at) yahoo.com