The Genographic Project and online source methodology

¶ … Genographic Project

A Summary Of The Project:

Its sponsors. The Genographic Project is a 5-year research partnership is headed by Dr. Spencer Wells, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence (the Genographic Project 1). Dr. Wells in collaboration with a team of international scientists and IBM researchers are using state-of-the-art genetic and computational technologies in an effort to identify the historical patterns that can be discerned from DNA samples collected from participants around the world in an effort to better understand humanity's collective genetic roots. According to IBM, the project is "a landmark five-year study in partnership with the National Geographic Society, to gather and analyze the largest number of human DNA samples to map how the earth was populated" (IBM transforms the art of scientific expeditions, 2005, p. 2).

Its mission/goals. The National Geographic Society states that the Genographic Project is intended to identify new knowledge concerning the migratory history of the human species by using sophisticated laboratory and computer analysis of DNA; these samples are being contributed by hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world (the Genographic Project 2). Their Society's Web site notes that, "In this unprecedented and real-time research effort, the Genographic Project is closing the gaps of what science knows today about humankind's ancient migration stories" (the Genographic Project 2-3).

Its process.

The Project's general process is comprised of three fundamental elements as follows:

To gather field research data in collaboration with indigenous and traditional peoples around the world;

To invite the general public to join the project by purchasing a Genographic Project Public Participation Kit; and,

To use proceeds from Genographic Public Participation Kit sales to further field research and the Genographic Legacy Fund which in turn supports indigenous conservation and revitalization projects (the Genographic Project 3).

Although the findings of the project hold some enormous commercial potential, the sponsors insist that the results of their efforts will be used solely for non-project purposes that also avoid any specific medical applications. For instance, the sponsors note that, "The Project is anonymous, non-medical, non-political, non-profit and non-commercial and all results will be placed in the public domain following scientific peer publication" (the Genographic Project 3).

The project is being facilitated by donations of sophisticated data-collection tools from its co-sponsor, IBM. In this regard, Loughran (2005) reports that the systems being used for field data collection consist of T42 Thinkpad laptops equipped with a custom data-gathering application that was specifically developed by IBM and the Genographic Project's principal investigators and custom-built by IBM's emerging technologies team (1). According to this author, "Research sites around the world are being equipped with specialized software to help researchers collect genetic data in remote locations and synchronize it with the master data repository" (Loughran 1-2). The customized field software captures the "context" data of DNA samples on a given expedition. it's designed so that dozens of languages and regions are acknowledged while cross populating other fields with related data, making collecting for a group of people in the same region much faster and more accurate (Loughran 3).

As part of its informed consent and ethical considerations, the Society states that:

No medical research will be conducted using the DNA samples collected for this project;

No patents will be sought as a result of this research;

All research findings will be held for public benefit;

All samples collected will be held under strict conditions maintaining confidentiality and may not be used for any purpose inconsistent with the strictly limited scientific objectives of the project; and,

Participants may, at any time, withdraw or modify their consent and may exercise discretion over the storage, return or destruction of their sample and/or any identifiable data arising from the project (Ethical framework 2-3).

Its findings to date.

The general findings of the project to date have provided researchers and their thousands of subjects with some new insights into the origins of people from various parts of the world. One of the most recent findings released by the project involved 1,000 students from Chicago Public Schools who will be provided with an answer to the age-old question, "Who am I and how did I get to where I am today?" (Breen 2).

2) a discussion of the "pros" or possible beneficial outcomes of this project

Based on the findings of the project to date, it is reasonable to suggest that in time, it will be possible to determine how, and to a lesser extent why, humans migrated to different parts of the world and populated them. The results of the project can also be used to help explain physiological differences among peoples that may have arisen in response to different environmental conditions. For instance, according to Wade (2006), "The study of selected genes may help reconstruct many crucial events in the human past. It may also help physical anthropologists explain why people over the world have such a variety of distinctive appearances, even though their genes are on the whole similar" (2).

3) a discussion of the "cons" or possible negative outcomes or methodological/theoretical / social problems with this project

The project has provided a thoughtful set of informed consent precautions that are designed to protect participants from abusive practices, to prevent the misuse of the DNA samples collected and to ensure that the findings of the project are widely publicized in appropriate journals. Nevertheless, whenever people are pigeonholed into discrete categories based on genetic factors, the potential for abuse arises.