Saturday, May 2, 2009

How DNA Solved One Man's Mystery

The following excerpt is taken from the online article:

"Richard Hill's father, on his deathbed, revealed a secret to his 32-year-old son: Richard was an adopted child. The younger Mr. Hill was quickly able to learn who his biological mother was. But cracking the identity of his birth father -- shrouded in cover ups, lies and false trails -- took 26 years. In the end, Mr. Hill solved the mystery with the help of sophisticated DNA-based genealogy tests. For most people who practice it, genetic genealogy is a hobby. But as the tests grow more powerful, people are starting to unearth family secrets. Many offspring of sperm-donor fathers are using Internet-based DNA searches to locate their so-called biodads.Others hope to identify unknown family members by connecting DNA profiles with last names."

You can read the rest of this fascinating article on the Wall Street Journal Online.

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