DNA and me
What do at-home DNA test kits tell us about our identity?
Want to know who you really are? Take an at-home DNA test, just like over 26 million others have around the globe. But the question is: why?
For many, it’s just a bit of fun; for others it might be for medical insight. But for everyone, it promises to tell you who you really are – and for many, those results might come as a surprise. For ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ reporter Sophia Smith Galer and her father, an innocent at-home kit led to a series of shocking discoveries about their family.
From discovering her true biological grandfather to a superstar relative, understanding their family background won’t ever be the same again. With so many stories like theirs emerging around the globe, are at-home DNA test kits now the ultimate palm-reader, setting the paths for our future and sense of sef? Do we assume too much of what is still early science – and how much is our identity, really, controlled by our genes anyway?
Sophia explores what this new scientific determination offers, and what other stories that are emerging around the world like her and her father’s tell us about how we build a sense of identity today in 2020.
Presenter/producer: Sophia Smith-Galer
(Photo: Sophia Smith-Galer. Credit: Lai Jones)
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- Tue 14 Jul 2020 01:32GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service
- Tue 14 Jul 2020 08:06GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service
- Tue 14 Jul 2020 12:32GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Tue 14 Jul 2020 14:06GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Tue 14 Jul 2020 19:06GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Tue 14 Jul 2020 19:32GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sat 18 Jul 2020 10:32GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service except Australasia & Europe and the Middle East
- Sun 19 Jul 2020 04:32GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service South Asia & East Asia only
- Sun 19 Jul 2020 17:06GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service News Internet
- Mon 9 Nov 2020 09:06GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service
- Mon 9 Nov 2020 13:32GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Mon 9 Nov 2020 15:06GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Mon 9 Nov 2020 20:06GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview, News Internet, Online & Europe and the Middle East only
- Mon 9 Nov 2020 21:06GMT³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service Australasia, East and Southern Africa, South Asia, West and Central Africa & East Asia only
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