As Ancestry.com's personal genetics database grows, the goals of the company have shifted into the medical realm (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/ancestrycom-medical-research-juggernaut_n_7008446.html). Their interesting combination of genealogy and genetics makes for a niche in family health history and personal health risk. It has not been without legal struggle, as the FDA originally denied personal genetics companies permission to market their tests as a medical diagnostic tool. But this is changing - should it?
Ancestry.com is also an interesting case study in the intersection of religion and science. Partnered with the Mormon church, part of their framework was to provide the religious body with genealogical and genetic information with which to "retroactively baptize" the dead. Link here for the history on this belief system: http://www.pbs.org/mormons/etc/genealogy.html
-Kim Foecke
No comments:
Post a Comment