Are We More Alike Than We Think?

While completing my third week discussion post I was led to the National Geographic website.  I saw an advertisement about the Genographic Project and decided to click to find details about the project. National Geographic in partnership with IBM has created The Genographic Project whose goal is to attempt to collect and analyze over 100,000 DNA samples from all over the world over a multitude of years.   (Genographic Project, 2011) While learning about how our ancestors migrated across the world. 

The kit is delivered with instructions of how to complete a DNA sample.  One the sample has been completed it is sent in anonymously to a lab to be processed with results. The ability to take your DNA and see how your ancestors navigated the world is fascinating. On one side, I thought this was a really cool project and I was kind of anxious to see what results it produced.   

Another part of me had a small bit of caution with partaking in this project.  My first cautionary aspect is that there is a United States/Canada and International kit.  This kit can be purchased for $99.95 and is available on the National Geographic website.  If you are really trying to get a true sample for your project they are effectively eliminating the world population that is impoverished, without computer access, and without a credit card.  Unless National Geographic has a way to capture additional information through another medium they seem to be limiting their information pool for their project.

My other concern is a lot of what I know about my family’s migratory path comes from conversations that I have had with my grandparents and even great grandparents.  Those conversations by the wood stove on both of my grandparents’ farms gave me the indication of who we were and where we came from.   I am sure that with any story that is passed down from generation to generation there are changes or omissions that take place over time.  While I don’t think that any of my grandparents’ deliberately were untruthful, any truly good story comes with some embellishments.  There is that twinge of concern if I participate in the project that my grandparents’ stories will be null and void.  What if the results are completely different that my grandparents’ stories?  I would much rather hold onto to conversations than gain insightful knowledge from the Genographic Project.

I am still undecided if I will participate in this project but I think that the premise of the project could encourage a more geographical outlook for everyone.  One of my favorite sayings is that we are more alike than we think and this project may be on the way to actually proving that fact.

References

The genographic project.  (2011).  Retrieved March 31, 2012 from

https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/lan/en/index.htm