Just three years ago, DNA testing company 23andMe was the golden child of Wall Street and Main Street. Today, the company is struggling to remain listed on the Nasdaq.
Except that leaving it somewhere is like a pseudonym. It would take a lot of effort to pinpoint to once specific person unless that person was already the sole target - then you just get a sample at their home.
It’s not necessary for the person to be the sole target.
By comparing the persons DNA to 2 or 3 relatives in a database, it’s quite easy to identify whose DNA you have, or at least narrow it down to a few potentials. (E.g. the DNA is from a male that is a cousin of X by the male line and nephew of Y by the female line).
all dna is interconnected as all humans are sourced from the same source dna. at some point, we will have enough dna in a database to be able to pinpoint almost any sample to anyone or their family closest in that dataset. it will eventually just be everyone. the set doesnt change, it will just grow as more people are added and its ‘accidentally’ released. its inevitable.
retrieving any humans dna you really want is fairly trivial. we need only minute traces anymore, and it gets less as amplification techniques improve. they already have molecular sniffing devices in all major airports. not for dna, but you get the idea.
ha, yes when you breathe you exhale a lot of particulate into the air, and guess what, its laden with your dna.
personally, i could not care less. have my dna, do what you will with it. oh noooes you have all of the numbers of me… whateverwillido?!
realistically, its only valuable in aggregate.
the only real concern ive ever heard was corporations making decisions on peoples dna, and that can be trivially circumvented by extending discrimination laws.
Except that leaving it somewhere is like a pseudonym. It would take a lot of effort to pinpoint to once specific person unless that person was already the sole target - then you just get a sample at their home.
Also, breathing out DNA?
It’s not necessary for the person to be the sole target.
By comparing the persons DNA to 2 or 3 relatives in a database, it’s quite easy to identify whose DNA you have, or at least narrow it down to a few potentials. (E.g. the DNA is from a male that is a cousin of X by the male line and nephew of Y by the female line).
all dna is interconnected as all humans are sourced from the same source dna. at some point, we will have enough dna in a database to be able to pinpoint almost any sample to anyone or their family closest in that dataset. it will eventually just be everyone. the set doesnt change, it will just grow as more people are added and its ‘accidentally’ released. its inevitable.
retrieving any humans dna you really want is fairly trivial. we need only minute traces anymore, and it gets less as amplification techniques improve. they already have molecular sniffing devices in all major airports. not for dna, but you get the idea.
ha, yes when you breathe you exhale a lot of particulate into the air, and guess what, its laden with your dna.
personally, i could not care less. have my dna, do what you will with it. oh noooes you have all of the numbers of me… whateverwillido?!
realistically, its only valuable in aggregate.
the only real concern ive ever heard was corporations making decisions on peoples dna, and that can be trivially circumvented by extending discrimination laws.