Population Genetics

A friend from IBM was telling me about this on Friday. IBM and National Geographic are pooling efforts into a five year project to collect at least 100,000 DNA samples from people around the world in order to build a public database of anthropological genetic information. The effort, on IBM's part, is in keeping with their push into business transformation services -- in this case, IBM is counting on their donated effort to bear fruit in future contracts in the lucrative life sciences market. The effort has its detractors, who fear that the world isn't ready for the study of human history, race and genetics. As well, there are general concerns around genetic studies, especially since they could lead to more of humanity being patented by businesses.

Despite the concerns, the Genographic Project is taking off however, and promises to create the largest DNA database of the human species. The data could lead to a higher resolution image of human migration out of Africa 50,000 years ago. The project is also looking to build public support and participation. Kits are available for $100 that would allow anyone to send their DNA sample for the project to analyze.

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