DNA a click away
2007-10-24 10:22
Los Angeles - A new website called
GeneTree.com wants to help answer the question "Who am I?" by
combining DNA data with information-sharing technology
popularised by News Corp's MySpace.com and Google Inc's
YouTube.
The site, which launches on Tuesday, promises to give users the tools to build a family tree that
reaches back before written records and into Africa and other
far-away lands.
"GeneTree provides a fun and compelling way to interact
with friends and extended family while leaving the priceless
legacy of a richly documented family history," said GeneTree
Chief Executive James Lee Sorenson.
GeneTree has roots in a collection of companies founded by
Utah billionaire James LeVoy Sorenson - who parlayed a gain
from the sale of his company to Abbott Labs into a
massive fortune - and his son James Lee Sorenson.
It taps the assets of those other family holdings in its
bid to take ancestor-tracking beyond the limits of established
genealogical records sites.
GeneTree has exclusive rights to a database owned by the
Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, which by year-end
should represent about 100 000 people and about 6 million
ancestral links from around the world, according to the
company.
It also incorporates digital video compression and encoding
software from Sorenson Media.
Varying prices
Users who choose to have genetic analysis done may choose
from several types of mitochondrial DNA tests that range in
price from $99 to $149. Sorenson Genomics will perform the DNA
analysis.
Scott Woodward, director of the Sorenson Molecular
Genealogy Foundation, said mitochondrial DNA offers a deep look
into our ancestry.
"We can trace mitochondrial DNA to a single woman," said
Woodward, referring to a woman called Mitochondrial Eve, who
lived in Africa between 100 000 and 200 000 years ago.
The DNA used to reconstruct genealogy is not very useful
for tracking diseases, but it is extremely helpful for making
ancestral connections, he said.
All the same, GeneTree's operators say they protect privacy
by giving users the option to share such things as names,
family photos and audio and video clips with new-found
"relatives."